Claude Debussy - The Golliwogs Cakewalk

No.4 in Claude Debussy’s “Children’s Corner“ Suite. At the time of its composition, Golliwoggs were in fashion, due partly to the popularity at that time of the novels of Florence Kate Upton (“golliwog“ is a later usage). They were stuffed black dolls with red pants, red bow ties and wild hair, somewhat reminiscent of the black-face minstrels of the time. This is a ragtime piece with its syncopations and banjo-like effects. The dynamic range is quite large and very effective. The B section of this dance is interrupted on several occasions by the love-death leitmotif of Richard Wagner’s opera Tristan und Isolde, marked avec une grande émotion (with great feeling).