DIVE IN!
Claude Debussy is known as an innovative composer who broke new ground on expressive ideas in music, but for most of us his power lies in the brilliant, beautiful, and engaging sounds he created rather than the painstaking attention to detail and planning he applied to his compositions. Enjoy getting to know a bit about his genius and listening to the Colorado Symphony performances of Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun.
RESOURCES
Nerd Alert! This 4 minute video highlights preparation and study of the flute solos, as delivered by legendary flutist Jeanne Baxtresser.
Now calling all Super Nerds! Enjoy this 15 minute lesson from Leonard Bernstein.
Plenty of opportunities to pause this video for rabbit hole research!!
Walter Murphy's genius 1979 mashup of Faun and slow groove disco.
HIGHLIGHTS
Claude Debussy composed Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun in 1894. It was premiered that same year in Paris and represented a turning point in classical composition toward modern atonal music - music without a sense of home “key” or a hierarchical structure of notes.
This piece was inspired by Stephen Mallarme’s poem Afternoon of a Faun, and then later became the inspiration for the Nijinsky choreographed ballet by the same name.
Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun is 110 bars long, reflecting the 110 lines of Mallarme’s poem, and is in two sections which split at the exact mid-point - bar 55.
Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun has been featured in television and movie soundtracks, as well as in electronic music and jazz arrangements. Ren & Stimpy fans may recognize it from a “Powdered Toast Man” scene. LP enthusiasts may recognize it from Walter Murphy's 1979 disco version.
Debussy’s score calls for 3 flutes, 2 oboes and English horn, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 harps, 2 percussion instruments called crotales, and the usual string section of violins, violas, cellos, and basses.
This music begins right from the start with a single flute playing the major thematic material. Listen carefully to this beautiful languid tune. It will return again multiple times throughout the piece, always a bit different than the first statement and often embellished in an improvisatory way. Other things to listen for are the way Debussy creates a sense of dreaming and of a hazy warm afternoon with musical gestures and textures.
A typical performance lasts about 10 minutes.
Nerd Assignments
Consider and Discuss:
In Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, composer Claude Debussy structures his music around short ideas or motifs rather than broader structures of the Classical and Romantic eras. He also draws the listener more into a tactile listening experience with musical textures and gestures than was customary practice in those earlier eras, and he pushes further across the boundaries of tonality - the idea of notes having roles and hierarchy organized around a sense of “home key". For these reasons and others, Debussy was considered to be a Modernist Impressionist composer. He never appreciated being labeled Impressionist, but the label has stuck. What do you think of when you hear the terms “Modernist” or “Impressionist” or “atonal”? How do these terms and your understanding of them comport with your experience listening to Debussy’s music? What do you appreciate or find puzzling about these labels when exploring Debussy’s music?
Try an Activity!
In Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, composer Claude Debussy has constructed sounds for listeners to conjure mental images and sensations of nature. Try it yourself! Go for a walk outside and bring a journal with you. Really focus on the things you see, hear, smell, feel, (or even taste if you should find some delicious treat along the way!) as though you are experiencing them for the first time. Note them in your journal and be as detailed as possible. When you return home take a fresh look at your journal notes. How would you translate these into sounds? What instruments would you choose? What sorts of rhythms or pitches would you use? Let your mind dream up anything! After all, that’s what Debussy did!
Listening for interpretation
Listen to the performance live, and two or three different recordings of Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun for comparison and contrast. How do you find the interpretation of different performances affect the overall piece of music? What specific things do you notice? Do you have any favorite interpretations or moments? What draws you toward some and/or turns you away from others?
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