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Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

Debussy Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun

Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

Joshua Weilerstein

Arts, Performing Arts, Music

4.92.5K Ratings

🗓️ 4 May 2020

⏱️ 35 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

We're taking a brief detour from Mahler 2 today to discuss Debussy's legendary Afternoon of a Faun, a piece written in the same year as Mahler's 2nd symphony. It's easy to forget how revolutionary this piece was at the time, but composers from Stravinsky to Schoenberg to Boulez to Messiaen were galvanized by this 10 minute masterpiece which Boulez said "breathed new life into the art of music." This is a piece that changed musical history for good, and today we'll find out exactly why it had such an impact.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Sticky Notes is brought to you by the Nomad Play app.

0:03.0

Have you ever wanted to play in a symphony orchestra,

0:05.0

or to be the soloist standing in front of everyone playing your favorite concerto?

0:09.0

Nomad Play allows you to remove parts from actual recordings of professional musicians, from orchestras to string quartets to duos and more, giving you the chance to play along or take center stage.

0:21.0

There are pieces on the app for everyone from beginners to professional musicians.

0:25.0

And the best part is that the app is free to use until May 31st, with the code Together 20.

0:31.0

Download No Man Play Today and start joining in on the fun.

0:35.0

Hello and welcome to Sticky Notes, the Classical Music Podcast.

0:46.4

My name is Joshua Wilerstein.

0:47.7

I'm a conductor and I'm the artistic director of the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra

0:50.9

in Lausanne Switzerland.

0:52.6

This podcast is for anyone who loves classical music, works in the field, or is just getting

0:56.8

ready to dive into this amazing world of incredible music.

1:00.7

Before we get started, I want to thank my new Patreon sponsors Miles, Michael W, Michael L, Justin,

1:06.8

Linda, Imma, and John, and all of my other Patreon sponsors for making season six possible. If you'd like to support

1:14.0

the show please head over to patreon.com slash sticky notes podcast. And if you are a

1:18.8

fan of the show, please just take a moment to give us a rating or review on

1:21.2

Apple Podcasts. Every rating and review helps more people

1:24.1

find the show and it is greatly appreciated.

1:27.0

Thanks and on to Debussy's Prelude to the afternoon of a fawn. fun. Oh, It's not often that I do a show about a piece that is only 10 minutes long,

2:04.0

but then again, a piece of music that is only 10 minutes long

2:07.2

rarely changes music forever.

...

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