Piano Literature 2
Professor Korevaar
Debussy and Ravel III

Approaching neoclassicism; formal innovations, changes in texture.

Reading: Roy Howat. The Art of French Piano Music: Debussy, Ravel, Fauré, Chabrier. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009.: 18-28.
Pieces to know for today:
Debussy: from  Children's Corner: Dr. Gradus ad Parnassum and Golliwog's Cakewalk;
Preludes: from Book I: "Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l'air du soir"; Les collines d'Anacapri; Minstrels; from Book II: Brouillards, La Puerta del Vino; General Lavine - eccentric.  Etudes: pour les "cinq doigts"; pour les agréments.

Ravel: Valses nobles et sentimentales; Le tombeau de Couperin
 

Agenda:  1. Neoclassicism in Ravel:  the Valses nobles and Tombeau. Influence on Stravinsky's neoclassic period, perhaps?
2. Debussy's later style:  the Preludes and Etudes. 

I've tried to pick examples to show how wide-ranging Debussy is in his interests: unusual scales, exoticism, virtuosity, strucutural inventiveness.