This new release from Etcetera Records presents selected works by Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel and Igor Stravinsky, in arrangements for piano duo, performed here by Pianoduo Mimese.

Debussy embodied all the dreams, aspirations and ideas of a young generation of 'Debussysts'. These 'Debussysts' thought of themselves as artistic outcasts; The Apaches (drawing reference to the infamous Les Apaches gang 'social outcasts who terrorised Paris in the 1900s'), as the heart of that generation of iconoclasts, fervently defended his innovations.

If Claude Debussy was known as their great inspiration, Maurice Ravel was the association's passionate driving force. Renowned names such as Igor Stravinsky, Manuel de Falla, Albert Roussel, and Florent Schmitt were regular guests. Debussy himself did not join but maintained close contact with Ravel and Stravinsky.

Very little is documented about the Apaches. The only glimpse we get of their world is through letters and diaries. From 1903, for instance, the group met every Saturday evening at the studio of Debussy's neighbour, the painter Paul Sordes. Their meetings were very busy and often lasted until the early hours.

They played new compositions for each other, recited poems, discussed contemporary ideas, helped each other write out music parts – things sometimes became so rowdy that they soon had to move their wild evenings to a secluded garden pavilion.

In a fin de siècle that was on the verge of collapse, the close bond between the Apaches proved to be an extremely fertile ground for their art. Although the First World War brought an abrupt end to their meetings, the association's influence continued to resonate with its former members for a long time afterwards.