today 1871 claude debussy's father (manuel debussy) is arrested and flung in jail as a communard

'debussy was born in the paris suburbs in 1862, to an impoverished family. his father, manuel, held a string of jobs, including china-shop owner, travelling salesman, and print worker. his mother, victorine, was a seamstress. in the period of the paris commune, in 1871, manuel served in the revolutionary forces, as a captain, and when the commune was defeated he spent more than a year in prison.'

- the velvet revolution of claude debussy, alex ross, the new yorker, october 22nd, 2018. 

there's probably more detail in the family and childhood of debussy by marcel dietschy and (noted debussy scholar) edward lockspeiser. horsemouth has a few books on debussy (indeed he has at least one by lockspeiser and one by debussy himself monsieur croche) but they are all back in the seaside towns. 

horsemouth has listened to a week of debussy's music on radio 4's composer of the week. the programme was premised on the idea that debussy was a bad lad and disreputable, borrowed money and didn't pay it back etc. but in the end with a composer all that is really left of them is the music and it is on this that their reputation stands or falls. 

debussy's is a fortunate life where he finds the thing he is good at, he finds the right people to teach him  and gets to do it.

horsemouth has just finished reading landscape with machines by l.t.c. rolt. rolt wants both sides of it, he wants the unspoiled countryside  but he also wants the machines and speed. for a while he reads like the car obsessed son from the murder at moorstones manor episode of ripping yarns but then he is diverted away from this by a mixture of unemployment (caused by the great depression) and the finding again of  his own poetic temperament in a love affair. he begins to write horror fiction for mystery stories magazine as the kind of work that can be done from anywhere (or in particular from a narrowboat cruising round the canals of england). 

rolt is derailed into art and literature. had it not been for the great depression he would probably have remained just an engineer (perhaps reading yeats in the evening). 

eventually he settles into a strange mixture of lives of the engineers (he has read samuel smiles in a second hand bookshop edition - 7s 6d) and h. j. massingham inspired nature writing. together with robert aickman he founds the inland waterways association and he was instrumental in the formation of the iron bridge gorge museum trust.  

yesterday a better day in the wilds. the task that was proving divisive got done. 

this morning a misty morning but sunny. a friend is back over in october. today some work and then some sitting out and reading. perhaps the usual missions with the eggs and with taking down the recycling bins.