Fall 2025 Repertoire
(Check back later for additional pieces)
Stravinsky: “Danse Infernale” and “Berceuse & Finale” from Firebird
Stravinsky: “Augurs of Spring” from The Rite of Spring
Concert performance of the whole ballet, cued to “Augurs of Spring”
Excerpt from a ballet production by the Joffrey Ballet
PBS Article on the historical context and importance of “The Rite of Spring”
A fun BBC article on “The Rite of Spring” and the musical revolution it started.
Darius Milhaud: Le boeuf sur le toit
Live performance
“Score-follower” video
Article about Milhaud from the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
Article about this piece from the Los Angeles Philharmonic
Debussy: “Golliwog’s Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner
The orchestration of this movement by Debussy’s colleague. (Note: we are doing a different arrangement. (Our arrangement is in E, one half-step higher.)
The original version of this piece, for piano solo
The BBC Classical article on Claude Debussy
The Library of Congress’s article on ragtime - the unique syncopated style of classical music made famous by Black composers like Scott Joplin. In “Golliwog’s Cakewalk”, Debussy paid homage to this famous dance music, which had become world-famous by the early 20th century. Like many Modernist composers, Debussy saw ragtime (and its progeny, jazz, which developed around the turn of the century) as symbolic of the modern era. Its syncopations and energy sounded to them like a musical representation of the massive urbanization that was happening in Europe and the US during this time.
Ravel: “Laideronnette, Impératrice des pagodes (“Laideronnette, Empress of the Pagodas”) from Ma mere l’oye (Mother Goose)
Original version for 4-hand piano
Ravel’s orchestration
This piece is a famous example of the influence of Indonesian gamelan music, which Ravel (and Debussy) heard at the 1889 Universal Exposition in Paris (the “world’s fair” for which the Eiffel Tower was built.) The pentatonic melodies, repeated rhythmic cycles, and emphasis on metallic percussion transformed significantly impacted French music during the Modernist period, and have continued to exert influence on many composers since - especially minimalist composers like Steve Reich and Phillip Glass. music. Read about gamelan music here and listen to a contemporary performance here. For more information about the suite from which this piece was excerpted, click here.