impression
Designed and directed by Graeme Steele Johnson, IMPRESSION is a multimedia performance concept that explores the artistic revolutions of French Impressionism by weaving the chamber music of Debussy and Ravel with the poetry of Stéphane Mallarmé.
IMPRESSION's musical cast numbers a Ravel-inspired octet of flute, clarinet, harp, string quartet and double bass, whose musical offerings alternate with an actor's reading of Mallarmé's seminal poem, "The Afternoon of a Faun." As the inspiration behind the Debussy arrangements of the latter part of the show, Ravel's Introduction and Allegro opens the program, and sees companion pieces in octet realizations of Debussy's Première Rhapsodie and his orchestral masterpiece Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun. Meanwhile, Mallarmé's provocative, dizzying poem finds resonances in all of the music as it is delivered in three installments before each piece, ultimately reconnecting Debussy's Faun with the poem that inspired it. Although it comes last on the program, Debussy's drowsy, sensual invocation of Mallarmé's Faun -- for Pierre Boulez, the beginning of modern music -- represents a sort of common ancestor of the pieces that precede it. IMPRESSION premiered in 2018 at The Cell Theatre in New York City, presented by Charles R. Hale Productions.
Mallarmé: "The Afternoon of a Faun" [translated E. H. and A. M. Blackmore, edited Graeme Steele Johnson] (excerpt no. 1)
Ravel: Introduction and Allegro
Mallarmé: "The Afternoon of a Faun" (excerpt no. 2)
Debussy: Première Rhapsodie [arranged Todd Palmer]
Mallarmé: "The Afternoon of a Faun" (excerpt no. 3)
Debussy: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun [arranged Graeme Steele Johnson]
Mallarmé: "The Afternoon of a Faun" [translated E. H. and A. M. Blackmore, edited Graeme Steele Johnson] (excerpt no. 1)
Ravel: Introduction and Allegro
Mallarmé: "The Afternoon of a Faun" (excerpt no. 2)
Debussy: Première Rhapsodie [arranged Todd Palmer]
Mallarmé: "The Afternoon of a Faun" (excerpt no. 3)
Debussy: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun [arranged Graeme Steele Johnson]
"IMPRESSION debuted at The Cell Theatre last night, rewarding all in the audience with a musical delight...The performance consisted of an octet of superb musicians and a reader, all of whom captivated the audience with their artistry."
-- Vinnie Nauheimer
"...an evening of engaging and truly mesmerizing music -- [I] felt like I was swept away into Debussy's pastoral and sensorial dream."
-- Vera Maura
TEDx Oak lawn
"Music About Nothing: Seinfeld and the Classical Style"
Have you ever heard a piece of classical music and thought, "I don't get it"? Graeme Steele Johnson believes that everyone has the capacity to decode the language of expectation, irony and drama in classical music if we only adjust the way we listen, because great music rewards great listening. In his talk, "Music About Nothing: Seinfeld and the Classical Style", Johnson traces the structural similarities between Mozart and that '90s sitcom to explain how to hear narrative and dramatic elements in music without a plot.
