Beauty and Innovation in la machine chinoise

During the first decade of the 20th century, Falla, Debussy, Ravel, and Roussel composed works laced with exotic coloration, a type of piece that Debussy termed la machine chinoise. Various historical factors at the time, including two world fairs and the vogue for Japanese prints, brought the rage for musical exoticism to a peak. But interest in Far Eastern forms of music among composers seeking ...