Dr. Gradus Ad Parnassum is the first movement in a suite by Claude Debussy called Children's Corner. Composition students in Debussy's day worked from a counterpoint study series edited by one Dr. Gradus. The studies were boring and pedantic. Debussy spoofed these counterpoint lessons in his own piano work called Dr. Gradus Ad Parnassum. Debussy's work is fast, convoluted in style with many contrapuntal lines that lead nowhere. It is above all, a tongue-in-cheek work. In creating my own "Dr. Gradus" I started with Ansel's Trees (another of my pieces.) I began overlapping and manipulating several layers of Ansel's, until it too reminded me of the overly complicated style of Debussy's work. The effect is puzzle-like - and originally, I thought of calling this work Ansel's Puzzle. However, I believe that Dr. Gradus is more fitting to the total concept and genesis of this work.