Great Composers

This week's music clips relate to chapters 33 and 34.

1. Claude Debussy, Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune

(="Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun") (chap. 33, p. 1092)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5A4CkUAazI

Read pp. 1091-2 (in chap. 33) and then read the paragraphs below. Once you do that, imagine yourself as a faun in a meadow on a sunny day; click on the YouTube above, close your eyes and listen.

A faun (not to be confused with "fawn", which is a young deer) is a creature from ancient Greek and Roman mythology. A faun is part goat and part human; it usually has the horns of a goat but otherwise is human from head to waist, and is goat from waist to feet. The ancients considered fauns as one type of forest deity among many. They were associated with lustful impulses, not having the constraints of formal urban society. Debussy's musical composition was inspired by a major poem by his friend Stéphane Mallarmé, a poem composed in French (1865; final version in 1876) originally and going by the title L'Après-midi d'un faune (="The Afternoon of a Faun"). Edwards ( http://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/111mall.htm ) describes Mallarme's poem this way:

"....a monologue told by the Faun himself, is loosely based on the myth of the god Pan's attempt to seduce the beautiful nymph Syrinx. (Fauns and nymphs are minor forest deities in ancient mythology.) In the myth, just as Pan had caught and embraced Syrinx, fellow nymphs came to her rescue and magically turned her into a sheaf of reeds. In his sigh of regret at losing Syrinx, Pan breathes air into the reeds and discovers the beauty of music. Mallarme's poem does not follow the same story-line as the original myth, but his faun does attempt to seduce nymphs, he does play music, and he is frustrated from realizing his goal (though this is left ambiguous). The poem begins with the faun waking up from a dream and ends with him falling asleep, wine by his side, to return to his dreams. In between he tells of his efforts to seduce fauns, though it is never entirely clear whether and when he is describing real events, memories, or dreams."

See this major SYMBOLIST poem in English translation on pp. 1091-2 (in chap. 33), but for a more complete translation (and good summary at the end), see http://faculty.txwes.edu/csmeller/human-prospect/ProData09/01ModCulMatrix/ModWRTs/Mallarme1842/Mal1865Faun.htm. For French text with translation, see http://www.ancientsites.com/aw/Article/1262762 . On symbolist poetry, see pp. 1088-1092, and also http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/symbolist/symbolist_intro.html.

Back to Debussy's work, Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune : As you listen to Debussy's work, think of it illustrating the moods and lustful fantasies of a faun on a hot afternoon. Debussy's composition later inspired a ballet based on this same poem.

1.b. Claude Debussy, La Mer (="The Sea") (chap. 33, p. 1092)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBBpqEMRaZU

Read carefully in 1092 (in chap. 33) about the three sections of this work; consider the book's description of this as "Impressionist" music (the analogy being to Impressionist paintings); but also consider the suggestion the it might be "Symbolist" and reflect on the differences described between the two. The book describes the three parts of this--light on the surface of the water, movement of waves, and sound of wind on the water. Feel free to listen to a few minutes and then fast forward to the different parts.

1.c. Claude Debussy, Clair de lune (not mentioned in book; Debussy is on p. 1092)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIsQPdC9YnY

Claude Debussy composed this famous work as the third movement of a piano suite entitled Suite Bergamasque. "Clair de lune" is French for "moonlight". It was completed in 1905. For some it evokes the image and mood of moonlight shining through the leaves of a tree. It seems to have been inspired by a symbolist French poem (also entitled Claire de lune) by Paul Verlaine, penned in 1869. For the French text and translation of the poem, see http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/853446.html ; scroll down to the second poem . For one person's experience playing Debussy's composition , see http://blog.thecurrent.org/2012/08/debussys-150th-birthday-spirit-his-clair-de-lune-lives/ .

2. Gustav Mahler, Symphony No. 1, 3rd Movement (chap. 33, p. 1103)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbRyttzUzjI

Read carefully the description of this piece on p. 1103 (in chap. 33). Mahler was a prominent composer from Vienna in the late 1800s.

2.b. Gustav Mahler, Symphony No. 2 (=The Resurrection Symphony"), in full (not mentioned in book)

If truly ambitious, listen to this long but marvelous symphony.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdc5n562zZg

For background, see

http://www.kennedy-center.org/calendar/?fuseaction=composition&composition_id=2484 .

3. Johannes Brahms, Symphony No. 4, 4th Movement (chap. 33, pp. 1103-1104)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZGWB93-mmI

Read carefully pp. 1103-1104 (in chap. 33). This was composed in 1885. Our class text notes that it isd marked allegro energico e passionato (energetically fast and passionate).

4. Igor Stravinsky, Le Sacre de printemps (=The Rite of Spring) (chap. 34, pp. 1129-1130)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BryIQ9QpXwI

Read carefully pp. 1129-1130 (in chap. 34) on this ballet, for which Stravinsky composed the music and Nijinsky did the choreography. (Compare Debussy's work--number 1 above; pp. 1091-2; note how this is a another twist on Mallarme's poem--a ballet with new music). It is very interesting to consider audience expectations for any performance. It is a my guess that most of you will listen to this music and find it enjoyable and inventive with all the tempo changes, certainly nothing to complain about. And the dance and choreography will seem good and tame (there are more erotic modern dance versions of this, but this is the more conservative original). Yet, in 1913, early in the performance there was so much hissing and booing--apparently directed at the music, not the dance--that "police had to be called, as Stravinsky himself crawled to safety out a backstage window" (p. 1129)!!!! I guess this is a different version of "Elvis has left the building"!

5. Arnold Schoenberg, "Madonna" , section 6 in Pierrot Lunaire (chap. 34, p. 1133)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INMo2Tg8fqc

For German lyrics and English translation, see http://www.lunanova.org/pierrot/text.html and

scroll down to number 6.

Read carefully p. 1133 (in chap. 34). Schoenberg completed this work in 1912. Realize that this is deliberately atonal (He would say "pantonal"). Note the use of Sprechstimme (="speech song") instead of normal singing and Schoenberg's description of this. Pierrot is the name of the main character, who is a clown by profession. "Pierrot Lunaire" can be translated "Moonstruck Pierrot" or "Pierrot in the Moonlight". Pierrot Lunaire is a work made up of 21 poems or songs, though actually they are put into three groups of 7 songs each. The subject matter of each 13-line poem is quite varied. This song called "Madonna" is a song to Mary when she is holding her son Jesus after he is taken down from the cross, the moment captured most famously in Michelangelo's sculpture called The Pietà. (There is no scriptural account of this event, though it cannot be discounted as a possibility. It became a common motif in tradition and art.). There is an allusion to a figurative warning Mary received in Luke 2:35 that "a sword shall pierce your own soul". This song "Madonna" graphically captures the moment as Mary "the mother of sorrows" cradles her dead son in her arms. Read the text of the lyrics at the link above.

6. Giacomo Puccini, "Un bel di" from Madama Butterfly (chap. 34, p. 1133)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_L0m1vYrmk&list=PL27A752E13BEBF364&index=16 or

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1woH96ROG-c (two versions)

For text and translation, see http://classicalmusic.about.com/od/opera/qt/unbeldilyrics.htm .

Puccini completed and first presented this opera in 1904. The story in this opera was roughly based on stories that had appeared in a play and short story in the late 1800s. Read carefully p. 1133 (in chap. 34) for a brief summary of the story of an irresponsible American sailor who abandoned his bride (Cio-Cio-San, meaning Butterfly) and returned to America. It is a tragic, heart-wrenching story. Un bel di (= "One Fine Day") is the play's most famous aria. It is sung in Act 2. It shows her longing for her husband's return one day, and she fantasizes about that event. But, the audience suspects that, deep down, this is an attempt to convince herself of that.

6.b. Giacomo Puccini, "Nessun dorma" from Turandot (chap. 34, p. 1133 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTFUM4Uh_6Y

See Italian text with translation at http://www.wowzone.com/vincero.htm .

This opera by Puccini was composed primarily by Puccini, though he died in 1924 before it was finished. Alfano completed the work, and it was first performed in 1926. This opera was based on plays of the story that had appeared in various versions for several centuries before. In the opera, the story is set in ancient Peking (now called Beijing, China) where the a cold-hearted and cruel princess named Turandot is dealing with a suitor named Prince Calàf. The story is nicely summarized on pp. 1133-1134 (in chap. 34). She does not want to marry him, but he has answered her riddles and challenges. Realizing her dilemma, he offered to forfeit his life at dawn if she could discover his real name. Thus, by Act III, she is determined that no one is the town shall sleep until she gets the name (she preferred he die than that she marry him). Thus, the aria, Nessun dorma ("Let No One Sleep").