Music Appreciation 3e Kamien
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Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

Prélude À L'après-midi d'un faune (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faune)

Instrumentation: flutes (3), oboes (2), English horn, clarinets (2), bassoons (2), French horns (4), harps (2), antique cymbals, strings

Form: A B A'

CD 3, Tracks 15-21, Duration 10:21

One of the most famous examples of musical impressionism is the Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, by Claude Debussy (1894). The vague metrical pulse, the exotic orchestral timbres, and the seemingly lack of any definite tonal center are characteristics of the style.

A Section
15) Main melody is presented by a solo flute. Note the harmonic and rhythmic ambiguity.

:23 Harp glissando ushers in the French horn. (p).
:33 Brief pause.
:37 Harp glissando is heard followed by soft horn calls.

16) Flute (main melody) strings in background.
:22 Subtle transition to oboe.
:41 Orchestral crescendo begins.
:57 Solo clarinet fades into

17) Flute presents main melody, varied and expanded.
1:15 Clarinet enters supported by harp and cellos.

18) New oboe melody.

:12 Violins enter with new melody. Crescendo and accelerando lead to the climax of the work.
:53 Clarinet leads into B section.

B Section
19) Woodwinds present a legato melody in long notes. Crescendo.

:35 Strings repeat the melody supported by the harps and woodwinds.
1:10 Orchestra gradually becomes softer.
1:25 Horns, solo violin, clarinet, and oboe finish the section.

A' Section
20) Flute (supported by harp) presents the main melody in longer (augmented) notes.
:21 Oboe (trills and staccato motif).
:36 Oboe (supported by harp) presents the main melody in longer notes.
:56 English horn, harp glissando (trills and staccato motif).

21) Antique cymbals accompany reappearance of the main theme in the flute.
:09 Solo violins in high register.
:45 Flute and cello present the main melody supported by harp.
1:04 Oboe brings the melody to a close.
1:36 Harps reappear (p).
1:43 Muted horns and violins present the beginning of main melody, as if in the distance. Flute, antique cymbals, and harp bring the work to a close.

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