Afternoon of a Faun

The Symphony last Sunday was an all French program: Debussy, Saint-Saens and Chausson. I like daydreaming through classical music with a beautiful melody and story, so Debussy's "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun" is a favorite. We heard it in the first half, along with Saint-Saen's Piano Concerto No. 2 played by a Macedonian pianist, Simon Trpceski. The newspaper reviewer described this Concerto as a "blistering difficult piece that is catnip to audiences." At intermission, the handsome young pianist was busy selling and signing his CD's.

A Faun
Pal Merse

But back to Debussy's fauns. It was completed in 1894, and inspired by a notorious poem written by Stephane Mallarme. The poem describes the daydreams of a young faun, a mythical half-man and half-goat. On a warm afternoon, the faun lounges around imagining encounters with woodland nymphs.

Faun Whistling at a Blackbird
Arnold Bocklin

Debussy is referred to as a musical Impressionist, and he was the master of conveying mood and theme through ambiguous melody and orchestration. Apparently, the poet himself was pleased with Debussy's Faun interpretation. But at the time it was first performed, the piece was bizarre and confusing to musical audiences, just as Impressionist painting was to the art world.