Can Debussy's Music be accurately described as Impressionist?

The first 200 words of this essay...

Can Debussy's Music be accurately described as Impressionist?

Claude Debussy is arguably the most famous composer to be associated with the style of Impressionism. Many of his works are compared, often favourably, to the works of Impressionist painters such as Monet. Yet Debussy himself frequently denied Impressionism's influence upon his works. In fact, it is clear he regarded it as a term of insult, as, apparently, did the Académie des Beaux-arts, in their report on Printemps (1887):

Monsieur Debussy... has a pronounced tendency - too pronounced - towards an exploration of the strange. One has the feeling of musical colour exaggerated to the point where it causes the composer to forget the importance of precise construction and form. It is strongly to be hoped that he will guard against this vague impressionism, which is one of the most dangerous enemies of truth in works of art.

Incidentally, this was the first time that the term 'impressionism' was used to describe a musical work. 1 Nonetheless, we must be wary of taking such an insult as the truth, even if it originates from such an influential institution.

Before determining how the term Impressionism could be applied, if