"A great work inspires the best of someone."

Some composers have a more personal connection than others. It is often difficult to explain, and even more difficult to discover in the music but every musician has a specific composer that changes their ideals. I remember a story from the spring semester of my first year, I was playing the Debussy Prelude No.8, "La Fille aux chevaux de lin" in one of my lessons and after I finished my piano instructor said the quote above and asked me if I had seen the best in me from my performance.

I said, "probably not." He told me to rethink my answer. Then he recommended a few more works by Debussy that I should "listen and study" to further connect myself with the composer. One of the works was the Piano Prelude No.10, "the sunken cathedral," and the other is the work featured in this post, Debussy's famous Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune for Orchestra.

I was mesmerized, especially with the performance in the video below.


Part 1

The movement is just so illicit and amazing. The textures and harmony are so diverse and Debussy proved his genius in the work. Debussy manipulates the voicing throughout the work shifting the melody from flute to oboe and back again and even through changing meters. He emphasizes harmonic fluidity without engaging in long modulations and blocking the rhythm of the phrasing. Debussy tools with different shadings and harmonies, bracing whole-tone scale runs (a tool of his genius) and in the accompaniment shifts the melodic cell through different voicing again with the flute duo's soaring, exotic melodic cells ride lush rolling strings with violas carrying the soprano part over the violins.


Part 2

The videos feature a celebrated performance from the London Symphony Orchestra and conductor Leopold Stokowski on June 14, 1972. The concert is in celebration of Stokowski's 90th birthday and the 60th anniversary of his LSO debut in 1912. He conducted the same program from that concert, with the Debussy taking the most precedence.