Claude Debussy was a French composer known for developing his own musical style independent of Wagner. He was born in 1862 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France to a family with five children. Some of his most famous compositions include Clair de Lune, as well as many works for piano. He spent much of his childhood in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, the town 19 km from Paris where he was born.