# Claude Debussy — Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune

Claude Debussy’s Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894) is No. 1 in our Impressionism ranking. The full verdict, and where to hear it.

- **Released:** 1894
- **On one list:** Impressionism
- **Updated:** 2026-08-30
- **Artist:** [Claude Debussy](https://waxonia.com/artist/claude-debussy/)
- **Canonical page:** https://waxonia.com/track/claude-debussy--prelude-a-lapres-midi-dun-faune/

## What we say

### No. 1 in [Impressionism](https://waxonia.com/genre/impressionism/)

A flute alone, drifting down a tritone with no key and no pulse to speak of. Boulez said modern music begins here, and for once that kind of claim is easy to defend.

## Analysis

12 sections, the first drop of 5 at 0:30, 5% of the way in, 20% of it spent climbing.

- **Tempo:** 123 BPM — holds throughout
- **Dynamic range:** 19.5 dB — wide open — the quiet parts are genuinely quiet
- **Length:** 10:50

- `0:00` A · **intro** (bar -3), instrumental — opens the record below its own average energy
- `0:26` A · **build** (bar 10), instrumental — energy and brightness climbing without a break
- `1:37` B · **lift** (bar 47), instrumental — a short rise that does not resolve — a fill or a transition, not a build — playing: other
- `1:55` A · **breakdown** (bar 56), instrumental — energy falling away mid-record, percussion thinning — playing: other
- `3:20` A · **build** (bar 100), instrumental — energy and brightness climbing without a break — playing: other
- `3:59` C · **build** (bar 120), instrumental — energy and brightness climbing without a break — playing: other
- `4:20` D · **peak** (bar 131), instrumental — sits at the top of this record's range — playing: other
- `4:36` A · **breakdown** (bar 138), instrumental — energy falling away mid-record, percussion thinning — playing: other
- `5:33` E · **steady** (bar 168), instrumental — holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling — playing: other
- `6:02` F · **peak** (bar 183), instrumental — sits at the top of this record's range — playing: other
- `6:30` A · **breakdown** (bar 197), instrumental — energy falling away mid-record, percussion thinning — playing: other
- `10:07` A · **outro** (bar 308), instrumental — the closing fall

**Drops** at 0:30 (bar 12), 1:43 (bar 50), 2:53 (bar 86), 4:12 (bar 126), 5:32 (bar 168). A drop is a moment, not a stretch.

**What is playing.** Separated into parts by a source-separation model, so each lane is the instrument it names.

- **drums:** the drum kit, separated from the mix
- **bass:** the bass part, separated from the mix
- **vocals:** the voice, separated from the mix
- **other:** everything else — synths, guitars, keys, strings

Measured from the YouTube master on 2026-08-29. Section labels describe how the energy
moves, not musical form. Anything we were not confident enough to state is omitted
rather than hedged.

## Listen

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Claude%20Debussy%20Pr%C3%A9lude%20%C3%A0%20l'apr%C3%A8s-midi%20d'un%20faune) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=bYyK922PsUw)

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