The symphonic music painting "The Sea" was composed in March 1905 and first performed in October 1905. This piece is Debussy's largest symphonic music work. It consists of three movements with different contents, but there are inherent connections between each movement, and together they form a complete work. It expresses the scenery of the "sea" and its dynamic character, and through the different sound areas of the entire band, it expresses the colors of various pictures in the "sea" extremely strongly. The music gives people a complete "sea" impression and fantasy of the sea in time and space. Novel harmonies, short melodies, rich timbres, and free development are all impressionistic techniques that vividly depict vivid pictures of the sea. There was such an anecdote about this song. At the beginning of this century, there was a gentleman in Paris who had never seen the sea with his own eyes. When he was enjoying Debussy's symphonic music painting "La Mer", he seemed to really see the scene of the sea with crashing waves and splashing waves. This left a lasting impression on him. Made an indelible impression. Later, when he traveled to the seaside and saw the real sea, he felt that it was "not enough". It was only when he returned from traveling and enjoyed Debussy's symphonic music painting "La Mer" again that he regained his original feeling. At this time, he couldn't help but exclaimed: "Oh! This is the sea!"

The whole song is divided into three parts: 1. "Dawn to Noon on the Sea" This part sequentially describes: the sound of the tide of the sea The night slowly opens, and a ray of light shines on the sea; a red sun gradually rises, the sky changes from purple to cyan, gradually increasing the brilliance, and an open sea dawn scene is vividly depicted.

2. "The Game of Waves" The music vividly depicts the scene of white waves crashing on the coast. The introductory part depicts the sound of cute little waves moving back and forth. As the music continues to develop, the English pipes play the lovely first main motive, which gives people a sense of leisure. 3. "Dialogue between the Wind and the Sea" At the beginning of this part, the tremolo of the timpani depicts the exciting and floating thunder in the distance. After that, the music describes the sound of the sea breeze blowing to the sea, causing waves of commotion, like a dialogue between the wind and the sea. This work not only depicts a fascinating and magnificent scene of the sea, but also shows the author's praise and praise of the natural scenery.