20th century
Baroque
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Solo repertoire
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Alto flute
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Debussy Claude
Aitken, Robert
Amirov, Fikret
Amlin, Martin
Amram, David
Andriessen, Jurriaan
Arnold, Malcolm
Arrieu, Claude
Auric, Georges
Babbit, Milton
Bacchus, Peter
Bacri, Nicolas
Baker, Michael Conway
Baksa, Robert
Barber, Samuel
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Bolling, Claude
Bon, Maarten
Bonis, Mel
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Boulanger, Marie-Juliette
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Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune
Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune
C. Debussy: symphonic poem "Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune" (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun) was written in 1984 and premiered in Paris on 22 December 1894.
The flute solo was played by Georges Barrère, who was only seventeen years old at the time and had studied flute with Paul Taffanel at the Paris Conservatoire. Additionally, he was a freelance musician in the Société Nationale de Musique (MSN) orchestra.
The performance has been considered a turning point in the history of Western art music, ushering in a whole new language of harmony and orchestral colour. Debussy was frequently present at rehearsals and continued to refine the score.
Pierre Boulez considered the score to be the beginning of modern music, observing that "the flute of the faun brought new breath to the art of music."
The composition was inspired by the poem "L'après-midi d'un faune" by Stéphane Mallarmé. The work is dedicated to the composer Raymond Bonheur, son of the painter Auguste Bonheur. Initially, Mallarmé was unhappy with the idea that his poem was being used as the basis for music, but was deeply moved after attending the premiere. "I have just come out of the concert, deeply moved. The marvel! Your illustration of the afternoon of a faun, which presents no dissonance with my text, but goes much further, really, into nostalgia and into light, with finesse, with sensuality, with richness. I shake your hand admiringly, Debussy. Yours, Mallarmé."
Debussy later wrote:
"The music of this prelude is a very free illustration of Mallarmé's beautiful poem. By no means does it claim to be a synthesis of it. Rather, there is a succession of scenes through which pass the desires and dreams of the faun in the heat of the afternoon. Then, tired of pursuing the timorous flight of nymphs and naiads, he succumbs to intoxicating sleep, in which he can finally realize his dreams of possession in universal Nature."
The first known arrangement of Debussy’s "Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune" for flute (or violin) and piano was made by Gustave Samazeuilh. His adaptation likely draws from Debussy’s own early piano four-hands transcription, combining the original solo flute line with Debussy’s piano reworking.
Emmanuel Strosser (piano), 2008, indesens!; arrangement by Gustave Samazeuilh.
Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune
Gesualdo Coggi (piano), live performance, 2017, arrangement by Paolo Taballione.
Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune
Debussy Claude
Claude Debussy (1862-1918) was a French composer, often regarded as the first impressionist composer, even though he rejected that association with impressionism. Debussy studied piano at the Conservatoire de Paris and composition with Ernest Guiraud, gradually developing his own style of composition which matured when he was nearly 40 years old and gained international success with his only opera Pelléas et Mélisande. At the age of 18, he started working as a pianist and tutor in the wealthy Russian household of Nadezhda von Meck, the longtime patroness of P.I.Tchaikovsky. Four years later he won Prix de Rome scholarship and spent two years at Villa Medici in Rome. Even though he was impressed by Wagner’s harmonies he was more influenced by Rimsky-Korsakov’s music which he was exposed upon returning to Paris.
Gradually his compositions gained recognition among his fellow composers. In 1983 Ysaÿe string quartet premiered his String Quartet, and the following year he started to compose Pelléas et Mélisande. In 1984 he gained some recognition with his symphonic poem Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, but his musical efforts were perpetually swept away with his controversial affairs in private life, turning supporters into enemies. Nevertheless, the success of his opera and the following compositions (e.g. La mer; Images) gained wider public recognition abroad than in France. Among his last works: Trio for flute, viola and harp (2015) was written when Debussy was suffering from his fatal illness.