University of South Carolina
School of Music

BAIN MUSC 726D
Debussy & Ravel

Spring 2027

MUSC 726D | Blackboard

C O U R S E   M O D U L E S
Triangle icon Introduction
2. Piano Music
3. Music for Ballet
4. String Quartets
5.
 Other Chamber
Music
6. Vocal Music
7. Comparative Analysis
8. Orchestration Analysis


News
Assignments

See Blackboard


Quotable

Left quote
Art is the most beautiful deception of all.
 Right quote

– Claude Debussy

Course Description

Analysis of melody, harmony, rhythm & meter, form, style and orchestration in the music of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel

Course Documents

  1. Syllabus (pdf)
  2. Reading
  3. Activities
  4. Listening/Analysis
  5. Theory Resources
  6. Bibliography
  7. Special Topics

Projects

  1. Midterm Research Project
  2. Final Presentation

Online Media Resources

  1. Barenboim, 5 Minutes on Claude Debussy
  2. Belkin, Analysis for Composers
  3. Boston Symphony Orchestra, Behind the Music
  4. Christiansen, Earsense: Debussy & Ravel
  5. Classical Notes
  6. G. Henle Verlag, Blog: Debussy | Ravel
  7. Gjerdingen, Child Composers {YouTube Channel} {Gjerdingen 2020}
  8. Howat, Fibonacci and the Golden Section {RoyHowat.com} (Howat 1983)
  9. Interlude
  10. King & Coulter, The Music Professor {YouTube Channel}
  11. London Philharmonic
  12. Los Angeles Philharmonic, Gustavo Dudamel
  13. Malinowski, Music Animation Machine {Musanim.com}
  14. Martin, Listening In {YouTube Channel}
  15. Morgan Library & Museum
  16. Musical Times, Portraits of Debussy
  17. Philharmonia Orchestra, Esa-Pekka Salonen
  18. Pianist Magazine
  19. Rogers
  20. Ross
  21. San Francisco Symphony, Program Note Podcast
  22. Straus, Analyzing Modernist Music {YouTube Channel}
  23. Swingle Singers
  24. Teoria, Web-based analyses by José Rodríguez Alvira
  25. Tonebase Piano {YouTube Channel}

Research Tools

  1. FindIt @ UofSC
  2. Dictionaries: Harvard Dictionary | Grove/Oxford
  3. Articles: JSTOR
  4. E-books: Ebook Central | EBSCOhost | Hathi Trust
  5. Scores: IMSLP; Alexander Street; CPDL
  6. Recordings: Naxos | Spotify | YouTube

Lists of Works

  1. Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
  2. Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)

Autograph Manuscripts, Sketches, etc. (Selected)

  1. Claude Debussy
  2. Maurice Ravel

BnF - Bibliothèque nationale de France {WP}
IMSLP - International Music Score Library Project {WP}

Music Theory Journals

  1. 19th-Century Music {UC Press}
  2. College Music Symposium {CMS}
  3. Engaging Students: Essays in Music Pedagogy {OSU Libraries}
  4. Ex Tempore {ex-tempore.org}
  5. Indiana Theory Review {IU Press}
  6. Intégral {Rochester.edu}
  7. Journal of Mathematics and Music {Taylor & Francis}
  8. Journal of Music Theory {JMT; JSTOR}
  9. Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy {JMTP}
  10. Journal of New Music Research {Taylor & Francis}
  11. Music Analysis {Wiley; JSTOR}
  12. Musical Insights: The Journal of the Macro Analysis Creative Resources Organization {MACRO}
  13. Perspectives on New Music {Website; JSTOR}
  14. Society for Music Theory (SMT)
  15. Theory and Practice {JSTOR}


Main References

See also: BAIN MUSC 726D Bibliography

DeVoto. Mark. 2004. Debussy and the Veil of Tonality: Essays on His Music. Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press. {GB}

Parks, Richard S. 1989. The Music of Claude Debussy. New Haven: Yale University Press. {GB}

Howat, Roy. 1983. Debussy in Proportion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {GB}

Kaminsky, Peter, ed. 2011. Unmasking Ravel: New Perspectives on the Music. Rochester: University of Rochester Press. {GB; Full text: Ebook Central}

Kelly, Barbara L. 2001. "Ravel, (Joseph) Maurice." Grove Music Online. {Grove}

Lesure, François and Roy Howat. 2001. "Debussy, (Achille-) Claude." Grove Music Online. {Grove}

Mawer, Deborah, ed. 2000. The Cambridge Companion to Ravel. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {GB; TOC}

Orenstein, Arbie. 1991/1968. Ravel: Man and Musician. Mineola, NY: Dover. {GB}

Pasler, Jan. 2001. "Impressionism." Grove Music Online. {Grove}

Trezise, Simon, ed. 2003. The Cambridge Companion to Debussy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {GB; TOC}

 Tymoczko, Dmitri. 2011. A Geometry of Music: Harmony and Counterpoint in the Extended Common Practice. New York: Oxford University Press. {GB; Full text: Ebook Central}

Zank, Stephen. 2009. Irony and Sound: The Music of Maurice Ravel. Rochester: University of Rochester Press. {GB}


Updated: September 25, 2026

Reginald Bain | University of South Carolina | School of Music
https://reginaldbain.com/vc/musc726d/