Debussy, Claude. Complete Orchestral Works. Cond. Jean Martinon. Orchestre National De L'O.R.T.F. EMI, 1989.

"If the traditional laws of physics, biblical authority, and psychological certainty could no longer be accepted, it seemed a small enough step to question the rules, assumptions, and prohibitions surrounding the arts. . . . In music, the basic assumptions were melody and its close associates harmony and tonality. The assumptions, too, were thrown into doubt" ( Kerman 290-91).

Debussy: harmonies are strangely vague; tones are subtle, mysterious shades of sound (Kerman 303).

"Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faune," first heard in 1894, was suggested by Mallarme's Symbolist poem which centres on the longings of a faun as he watches a band of nymphs one hot summer afternoon. It did not achieve fame, or notoriety, with the general public until 1912 when Nijinsky shocked ballet audiences with his 'daring' stage version of it. Since then, of course, it has become a standard item in the repertory and the most popular of all Debussy's exercises in impressionism. Again, though, the atmosphere of heat haze and vague yearning is achieved by the exquisite apportioning of detail: a languid flute phrase, a shrill trumpet interjection, a voluptuous harp glissando" (James Harding, Complete Orchestral Works, 1988)

Kerman, Joseph. Listen. 3rd ed. New York: Worth , 1996.

Works Cited

Kerman, Joseph. Listen. 3rd ed. New York: Worth , 1996.