Claude Debussy’s “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Fawn”

When I listened to this song, I was taken on a bit of a journey to different parts of my life where I had heard a similar tune. As I continued to listen to the melodies, I kept being reminded of a different movie or play that I had seen as a child. The opening part of the song instantly made me think of a puppet movie I had seen in my 5th grade music class named “Peter and the Wolf.” The tune sounded strikingly similar as did the instrumentation. The next place my mind took me was to the Disney movie “The Jungle Book.” Now, I haven’t seen that movie in a long time, but I think the connection here had to do with the music that was played when the snake was on screen. Next, I was reminded of another Disney movie called “Bambi.” I think I made the connection between this song and the music that was played during the time the hunter was around. Also, I might have been picturing the baby fawn in “Bambi” when I was thinking about the title. I found this song to be physically relaxing, but mentally eerie. It seemed peaceful in the outside, but I detected danger or some other negative emotion in the back of my mind. Another thing I noticed was that this song seems to loosely follow the intensity pattern of a children’s story. By this, I mean that it begins with information but with little emotion. It then gradually becomes louder and more intense until it reaches a climax, and it fades off with a peaceful resolve at the end. Overall, I enjoyed listening to it, but not more than once.