Children’s Corner Suite

Children's Corner is originally a 6-movement suite for solo piano. Debussy composed Children's Corner between 1906 and 1908 and dedicated the suite to his daughter, Claude-Emma (known as "Chou-Chou"). Each movement depicts one of his daughter's favorite toys.

The four movements of this suite  are:

1. Serenade for a Doll – is a musical description of a porcelain doll and features the pentatonic scale throughout.
2. Jimbo's Lullaby – describes an elephant from the French Sudan that lived briefly in the Jardin des Plantes in Paris around the time of Debussy's birth. It is a beautiful lullaby with some dark moments and whole-tone passages in the middle.
3. The Little Shepherd depicts a shepherd with his flute (played by off stage flugelhorn). The off stage flugelhorn plays three solo passages which are each answered by the on stage ensemble.
4. Golliwogg's Cakewalk – a Golliwogg was a stuffed black doll with red pants, red bow ties and wild hair, somewhat reminiscent of the black-face minstrels of the time. The cakewalk was a kind of strutting dance, and the dancer with the most elaborate steps won a cake ("taking the cake").  Cakewalks are similar to American ragtime in both form and syncopated rhythms. During the middle section of the piece, Debussy alludes satirically to Richard Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde.

For 11 piece brass ensemble with percussion (423.11)

• Piccolo Trumpet 1 in B♭
• Trumpet 2 in E♭
• Trumpet 3 & 4  in B♭ (Doubles on Flugelhorn)
• 2 Horns
• 2 Trombones
• Bass Trombone
• Euphonium
• Tuba
• Percussion (Vibraphone, Glockenspiel, Suspended Cymbal, Xylophone, Splash Cymbal, Temple Block)

This arrangement is part of our Boulder Brass Signature Series.