Aaron Rabushka wrote:

>When I was teaching an adult music appreciation class some time ago I
>played the first movement of Debussy's "Nocturnes." At one point this
>features a pentatonic melody that, to me, "sounds Chinese." One of the
>students was from Taiwan and he didn't hear it as such.

As a Malaysian Chinese (though currently residing in Honolulu), and having
listened to the Nocturnes for over a year now, I've never considered the
first movement to be anything remotely "Chinese".  Though Debussy may have
used pentatonic melodies, it doesn't really sound Chinese.  Actually as I
am listening to it right now, it recalls more of Indonesian/Malaysian
ethnic music - especially the gamelans (orchestras basically made up of
only percussive instruments).

Jynn Tan
Honolulu, Hawaii