Claude Debussy was a French composer born in 1862 who began piano lessons at age seven. He used musical techniques such as parallel chords, whole-tone and pentatonic scales, and unprepared modulations in his compositions. Some of his most famous works included Clair de Lune, Children's Corner Suite, and pieces for solo piano such as Mazurka. Debussy died of cancer in Paris in 1918 while World War 1 was ongoing.