Let me briefly invade Justin's turf — Newsday critic and New Yorker contributor Justin Davidson is guest-hosting this week — is to say that I've written something for the blog of the 92nd Street Y. Next Sunday I'm appearing in the Y's Poetry Center series, where I will look at the poetic roots of two works that forever altered the musical landscape: Debussy’s Prelude to "The Afternoon of a Faun" and Schoenberg’s Second Quartet. In Debussy’s case inspiration came from Mallarmé’s gloriously enigmatic long poem “The Afternoon of a Faun" — “the motionless and weary swoon / Of stifling heat" — and in Schoenberg's case it was Stefan George's "Rapture": "I feel the wind of another planet.... I dissolve in sounds, circling, weaving...." I’ll discuss how conventional harmony crumbled underfoot as the composers chased these elusive images. In addition to a lecture-plus-brunch deal, the Y is offering $10 for people under 35. One day I'll have a real photo. (Speaking of which, Steve Pyke, who's supplied some brilliant portraits to accompany my pieces, including this one of Ian Bostridge, has a show at Flowers gallery from March 29 to May 5.) — Alex
