Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faun

- Mix of conjunct and small leaps

- chromaticism

- pentatonic and whole tone elements

-modal scales

-interval of a tritone at bar 1 (dissonant interval)

-motifs developed and passed to different parts of the orchestra

-main motifs held in woodwind

- not many cadences
- parallel movement
- dissonance
-unusual harmonic progressions

-Extended chords: 7ths and 9ths

-Chromatic & flat 5ths

-Often Non-functional harmony (despite some cadence points- nf harmony helps to create evocative sound)

-unusual harmonic progressions

-uses vague harmonies

-harmony rarely based around a simple triad

-opens monophonic
-mostly homophonic
- doubling of instruments
-blocks of different contrasting dynamics and texture

-Orchestra-grows into a full orchestral sound

-Opening Flute solo, which is in the lower register-unusual-creates soft timbre

-Harp, muted strings

-Lots of strings techniques: tremolando, mutes, pizzicato, sur la touche

-Glissando on the harp

-soft timbre (limited brass- just 4 French horns- muted)

-no percussion until end (antique cymbals)

-harmonic notes

-slow
-hemiola effect in 3/4
- slight tempo changes
-hard to find pulse (free sounding)
-no sense of 6/8
-cross rhythms
-free sense of rhythm

-9/8, 12/8 and 6/8

-ambiguous tonality: could argue it begins in C sharp (not particularly minor)

-seems to be in E major but music says something dfiferent

-key centres: not major & minor distinctions

-modulations to unrelated keys

-broadly a ternary form outline (ABA)

-sections are quite flexible (start is soloistic and gentle, middle has thicker texture, end is shorter)

-Free and flexible: typical of late-romanticism to 20th century

-doesn’t follow a regimented structure

-block structure, more organic, lack of key-breaks down structure even further