Menuet from the Petite Suite (Debussy)

In his Petite Suite, written for piano 4-hands in 1899, Debussy evokes the era of 18th-century aristocrats on country outings as depicted in the baroque paintings of Fragonard and Watteau. On the eve of the 20th Century, Debussy seems to be nostalgically looking backward to a simpler, more elegant time. The Menuet, an archaic, old-fashioned dance in Debussy's day, still carries a subtle fragrance of pressed flowers and delicately-scented handkerchiefs floating on a summer breeze. Listen here: