Piano Piece Pick #13 - Claude Debussy wrote a 6 piece suite for children back in 1908. The final piece of the set contained this peculiar title - "Golliwogg's cake-walk". But, what does the title mean?
Well, a golliwogg is a stuffed rag doll characterized by white-rimmed eyes, clown-like lips, and frizzy black hair and skin. The cakewalk is a dance invented by slaves to make fun of the elite class; often slaves would dance against each other to win a delicious hoecake (southern... See More
Piano Piece Pick #13 - Claude Debussy wrote a 6 piece suite for children back in 1908. The final piece of the set contained this peculiar title - "Golliwogg's cake-walk". But, what does the title mean?
Well, a golliwogg is a stuffed rag doll characterized by white-rimmed eyes, clown-like lips, and frizzy black hair and skin. The cakewalk is a dance invented by slaves to make fun of the elite class; often slaves would dance against each other to win a delicious hoecake (southern cornbread).
Debussy's Golliwogg's cake-walk invokes an image of black dolls dancing in mocking fun and the music borrows elements from ragtime and jazz. And boy, doesn't that distinctive melody take the cake?
