Debussy is most often called an impressionist. “People get lost a little bit in sound for the sake of sound”, Ólafsson comments. But the composer was also “a real perfectionist... there is this incredibly refined structure at work.” Rameau, “the bad boy of the French baroque”, likewise combined a strong sense of structure with a fondness for breaking conventions: “He broke the rules and paved the way for new ideas, new creativity, new spontaneity.” What unites the two composers, Ólafsson comments, is “a kind of freedom and discipline, juxtaposed”. The album Debussy & Rameau alternates music by the two composers, creating an enthralling dialogue between them. Works are drawn from across both composers’ careers, with the Debussy selection including well-known miniatures such as La Fille aux cheveux de lin as well as the less familiar Prelude to La Damoiselle élue arranged for piano solo. Rameau’s works are mainly drawn from his Pièces de clavecin collections of between 1724 and 1741. One of the album’s centrepieces is Ólafsson’s own Rameau arrangement The Arts and the Hours. Ólafsson’s album concludes with a piece that connects the two composers directly: Debussy’s Hommage à Rameau from Images book 1, a moving sarabande written as a tribute from one rule -breaking composer to another. WORKS Debussy: Children's Corner Debussy: Des pas sur le neige (from Préludes - Book 1) Debussy: Estampe No. 3 - Jardins sous la pluie Debussy: Hommage à Rameau (No. 2 from Images pour piano - Book 1) Debussy: La damoiselle élue: Prelude Debussy: La fille aux cheveux de lin (from Préludes - Book 1: No. 8) Debussy: Ondine (from Préludes - Book 2) Rameau: Concert No. 4 in B flat major Rameau: Gigue en rondeau I & II Rameau: L'Egyptienne Rameau: L'Enharmonique Rameau: L'Entretien des muses Rameau: La Cupis in D minor Rameau: La joyeuse Rameau: La poule Rameau: La villageoise Rameau: Le rappel des oiseaux Rameau: Les Cyclopes Rameau: Les Sauvages Rameau: Les tendres plaintes Rameau: Musette en rondeau Rameau: Pièces de Clavecin 1724: Les Tourbillons Rameau: Tambourin Rameau: The Arts and the Hours