Savannah Music Festival | March 22-April 7, 2012

Original air date: week of May 29, 2011

The string quartets written in the late 19th and early 20th century by Debussy and Ravel both dazzled and disturbed people in their first performances. Debussy's fantastic, spiraling variations were shocking, but the exotic beauty of his writing excited many (including the young Ravel). Over time, passionate arguments by music aficionados over the relative merits of the compositions of Debussy and Ravel would eventually lead to the termination of their friendship. In this episode, we listen to two French masterworks by Debussy and Ravel respectively, played by the Ebene Quartet during the 2011 Savannah Music Festival.

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