Orin Grossman Presents Afternoons at the Piano - Paris and Ragtime: Claude Debussy does the two-step - Friday, October 22 at 4:00 PM

Free for Fairfield University Faculty, Staff, and Students

The ragtime craze that swept the United States in the late 1890’s and early 1900’s reached Europe as well. American entertainers came to Paris and amused the sophisticated Parisians including Claude Debussy, who captured his impressions of American popular culture in three piano pieces. Many people know “Golliwog’s Cakewalk,” but few have understood the humorous compliment Debussy paid to the United States in two of his piano preludes.

This presentation features all three of Debussy’s piano tributes to the new popular American style: “Golliwog’s Cakewalk,” “Minstrels,” and “General Lavine, Eccentric.”