14 PIANO TWINS And how would you distinguish Debussy’s musical language from Ravel’s? Vanessa Wagner: Both composers display great sensuality, which, in Debussy’s case, takes on more tormented overtones, a slightly morbid tenderness. With Debussy, you can’t take anything at face value, and you have to be able to pick up hidden, sometimes sarcastic elements in his pieces. Wilhem Latchoumia: I always think of Ravel’s fascination with the world of watchmaking. The result was a fastidiousness and a concern for precision that drove him constantly to retouch his scores, as well as an impression of extreme refinement. Both composers shared a love of Spain, as seen in Ravel’s famous Habanera and Debussy’s much less well-known Lindaraja. Wilhem Latchoumia: After hearing La Soirée dans Grenade, Falla said that Debussy was the only composer capable of conveying the spirit of Spain (a country he had never visited), exemplified in García Lorca’s definition of duende.
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