Claude Debussy Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune. A Musical Analysis. Dr Nick Redfern

Music Through the Microscope Book 1 Kindle Edition

Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune is an outstanding pinnacle of achievement by the distinctly modernist, supremely colourful and wholly unique French composer, Claude Debussy. Indeed, the work defines the era of overt exoticism and heady sensuality which characterised late 19th Century and early 20th Century Parisian artistic ethos. This complex and bewildering work is analysed to reveal the inner machinations of this highly individual of compositional idioms.

The elusive nature of the thematic development is unravelled, its construction being a fusion of chromatic and modal melodic craft. The development is mapped throughout the work, and the methodology is distinct and most unlike traditional symphonic thought. The intricate manoeuvrings of the harmonic language are revealed; the intoxicating harmonic palate is founded on post-Wagnerian chromaticism and modal manoeuvres, defying and redefining the functionality of harmony.

The opulent, vibrant orchestral sonority is discussed at length as is the structure and tonality. The book is fully illustrated with musical extracts and encompasses many theoretical aspects of this remarkable composition. This is a unique and highly valuable companion to l’après-midi and available at Amazon Kindle.

This analysis is not a critique of the composer and does not seek to explore the cultural, contextual or historical aspects of the music. This book is available exclusively at Amazon Kindle. Buy now.

Free resources to download

Download Illustrations

Download sample document

Download score