The arabesque is a type of music generally for piano,[1] which uses melodies to create the atmosphere of Arabic architecture.[2]
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The word "arabesque" is derived from Western ideas of Arabic music, which were highly embellished. In actuality, arabesques and Arab music are not closely related.[3]
The most well-known are Claude Debussy's Deux Arabesques, composed in 1888 and 1891, respectively. Other composers that wrote arabesques include Robert Schumann, Jean Sibelius, Moritz Moszkowski, Cécile Chaminade, Edward Macdowell, Johann Friedrich Franz Burgmüller, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.[3][4] Later examples of the genre include Bohuslav Martinů's seven arabesques for cello and piano (1931).