Conductor's Guide to Debussy's Prelude, Nocturnes, & La Mer

By: Gerard Schwarz

Narrated by: Gerard Schwarz

Length: 1 hr and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

Debussy was the first great composer of the twentieth century. He departed from previous musical practice to a greater extent than any previous composer. Though he completed his masterpieces Prelude to Afternoon of a Faun and the triptych Nocturnes before the turn of the century, it was not until 1902 that Debussy received widespread recognition. His symphonic seascape La Mer, which was met with great criticism on its first performance in 1905, is now upheld as the foremost musical depiction of the sea and Debussy's most celebrated orchestral composition.

The Musically Speaking Conductor's Guides are your link to an appreciation of the greatest classical music ever performed. Let Maestro Gerard Schwarz enrich your classical music listening enjoyment by illuminating the great works of the Masters with revealing commentary and educational insight.

If you love the symphony, this hour of delightful entertainment and fascinating information will enrich your symphony experience like nothing else. See the entire Musically Speaking Collection here.

©1996 CVP, Inc. (P)1987 The Decca Record Co. Ltd., London

Lecture good, sound not so great

I agree with William about the unevenness of the sound levels but I won't let it detract from my rating for the quality of the lecture. As a non-musician seeking to better understand what makes Debussy's music so distinctive, it was very illuminating. When the lecture finished I was eager to listen to the pieces in their entirety. Alas, Audible does not include the second disc of the set, the one with the music on it. How disappointing.

Engaging but uneven volume levels

I found this very educational and entertaining. My only complaint was that much of Debussy's music was too faint to hear without cranking the volume up all the way, which means that when the narrator conductor comes back, his voice blasted in my ears.

This complaint may not be relevant if you're listening in a very quiet environment, but I listened to this on my iPod througy my car stereo (constantly adjusting the stereo volumn knob) and through iPod earphones while commuting to work via train.

I had heard an excerpt from a different title in this series, which didn't suffer from the volume problem.

All in all, though, it was educational. As a novice to music in general, I'm in no position to judge the accuracy of the information or the depth of the conductor's interpretation, but as a beginner, I did not feel that the narrator was going over my head.