French musical poetry

“I thought I had composed it myself,” declared Stéphane Mallarmé upon hearing that Claude Debussy intended to write music to his poem The Afternoon of a Faun from 1876. Few poets have made as much of an impression on modern music as French symbolist Mallarmé. With an abundance of allusions and linguistic melodies, he wanted to recapture the means of expression of music, which he found to be poetic.

He also inspired several generations of composers. Of the shimmering, crystal clear music in Trois Poèmes de Mallarmé (1913), Maurice Ravel wrote that he wanted to make a musical translation of “this refinement, full of depth, and so unique to Mallarmé.” In Debussy’s well-known Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun (1894), in which timbre and tone are detached from traditional emphases and begin to float, Pierre Boulez heard the awakening of modern music. In turn, Boulez’ work led the way for post-war music, especially Improvisations sur Mallarmé (1959–62), which were later included in the great Pli selon pli, subtitled Portrait of Mallarmé.

Christian Karlsen leads KammarensembleN and The RSPO Orchestra Academy, with Alexandra Büchel as vocal soloist. In between, actor Johan Holmberg reads Mallarmé’s poetry in new translations by Axel Englund, who also introduces the music and poetry.

This concert is arranged in partnership with Stockholm University and the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation.

Read more about RSPO Orchestra Academy