Claude Debussy instead "an exquisite, pellucid style" capable of conveying "not only gaiety and whimsicality but emotion of a deeper sort". In a 2004 study, Mark DeVoto comments that Debussy's early works are harmonically no more adventurous than existing music by Fauré; in a 2007 book about the piano works, Margery Halford observes that "Deux arabesques" (1888–1891) and "Rêverie" (1890) have "the fluidity and warmth of Debussy's later style" but are not harmonically innovative. Halford cites the popular "Clair de Lune" (1890) from the "Suite Bergamasque" as a transitional work pointing towards the composer's mature style. Musicians from Debussy's time onwards have
Au clair de la lune clair de la lune" as the basis of his song "Pierrot" ("Pantomime", L. 31) from "Quatre Chansons de Jeunesse". Erik Satie quoted this song in the section "Le flirt" (No. 19) of his 1914 piano collection "Sports et divertissements". In 1926, Samuel Barber rewrote "H-35: Au Claire de la Lune: A Modern Setting of an old folk tune" while studying at the Curtis Institute of Music. In 1928, Marc Blitzstein orchestrated "Variations sur 'Au Claire du la Lune'." In 1964, French pop singer France Gall recorded a version of this song, with altered lyrics to make it a love song.