It is often said that the era of modern music began with a single work in 1894: Claude Debussy’s Prélude à L’Après-Midi D’Un Faune for orchestra.
Based on Mallarmé’s poem, Debussy considered the Prélude to be evocative “of the successive scenes in which the longings and desires of the faun pass in the heat of the afternoon”.
Debussy stretched the traditional system of keys and tonalities to their limits. The Prélude is one of the most popular pieces of music of all time and inspired many composers.
Have a look now at Georges Pretre as directs a performance of Debussy’s “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faune”:
