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Prelude a l’apres midi d’un faune.

Debussy's masterpiece.

By Giovanni ProfetaPublished 2 years ago 3 min read
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“People don’t like very much things that are beautiful, they are so far from their nasty little minds.” I decided to use this harsh quote by Claude Debussy himself to make you enter inside the mind of such a unique character.

A young Claude Debussy

Claude Debussy was born in 1862 in a humble, non-musical home. His Mother was a seamstress and his Father a shopkeeper. At the tender age of 10, the young aspiring musician entered The Paris Conservatory to study Piano and composition. At that time, he was the youngest student and remained there for 11 years.

His time in the Conservatory was not always a walk in the park. He was temperamental and impatient, maybe a bit more than expected. He confessed being extremely bored in his composition lessons and rebelled against the rules of the College and harmony itself. By 1885 he decided to go his own way regardless of what his teachers thought. His music began to evolve more dissonant and began to deviate even more from what he was taught.

On his quest for a new sound, he finally found what he was looking for in a unique location. The Paris exhibition 1889.

He grew up following the strict rules of classical harmony. Music was written in a key and the harmonic journey was intrinsically linked to that key. The notes on a scale had a hierarchy applied to them, composers were compelled to follow that well-paved path of musical pre-conceptions.

Debussy started to experiment with different scales and modes forgetting that he should play in a key at all. He even used scales from Javanese Gamelan and tried to make the piano to mimic the percussive sound of this Indonesian invention.

Gamelan

To make things a bit more exotic and interesting, he had a huge fascination for Japan and began to write music strictly attached to the pentatonic scale using only the black keys. By moving freely and not being attached to a key, he was able to move from one chord to another and finish with the perfect cadence. Composing like this gives you the ability to move sideways without the need of a “Home” note.

In 1894 Debussy was out of the security of the student life and trying desperately to make a living as a composer. In his everlasting quest for inspiration, he attended a meeting of intellectuals called “The Tuesday Club” and there he friended a poet called Stephane Mallarme.

Mallarme was a well-known figure in the circle. His main occupation was to teach English and live a bohemian life in the center of Paris. Mallarme wrote “L’apres midi d’ un faune” in 1878. His poem quickly became a landmark in French literature and gained high status among connoisseurs. The poem describes a lazy, dream-like vision of a faun who has just woken up by the giggles of nymphs. After this “rude” awakening, the faun wishes the nymphs farewell and goes back to slumber.

When the author heard that Debussy was planning to set the poem to music he was unimpressed. For him poetry is music with words, in a way words are the notes and the reader the instrument. Debussy’s idea was totally different. He wanted to create a very loose and free illustration of the poem. A musical response rather than a re-telling of the story.

Debussy once said: “It is an evocation of the feeling of the poem as a whole. It isn’t a tone poem, it is a slow, meditative melody and a layered orchestration that aims to reflect the feelings described within Mallarme’s work.”

After the first performance in December 22, 1894, the poet was completely mesmerized by the orchestration and declared the work “A Marvel.” On that opening night, conducted by the Swiss composer Gustave Doret. Debussy showed the world his first masterpiece and changed the course of music forever.

I dare each one of you to simply embrace technology and do a quick search for this wonderful piece of work. Put on your headphones and let music guide your thoughts. Dare to feel the warmth of a summer afternoon in just a few seconds of the meandering solo flute.

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About the Creator

Giovanni Profeta

Swimming through life one stroke at a time.

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