DEBUSSY AS A FORERUNNER OF INTERCULTURALISM
DEBUSSY AS A FORERUNNER OF INTERCULTURALISM

Summary/Abstract: Between the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries, when colonialism was in full force, Western composers expressed a deep interest in non-Western music, drawing on its structures, melodies, rhythms and timbres. Since 1901 Debussy wrote some pieces related to gamelan music. Should these pieces be considered as examples of colonialist exoticism, or rather as early models of interculturalism? In trying to answer this question, this paper highlights the educational role of music promoting respect and appraisal of cultural diversity.

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