Children's Corner

Debussy finished Children's Corner in 1908 and dedicated it to his daughter Claude-Emma, called Chouchou, then three years old, with an apology for what follows. The six pieces carry English titles — the child had an English governess — and are addressed to an adult idea of childhood rather than written for children to play. Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum parodies Clementi's studies; Golliwogg's Cake-walk quotes the opening of Tristan und Isolde and immediately undercuts it. André Caplet orchestrated the suite in 1911, and that is the version usually heard in concert.