''Métopes'', Op. 29, is a work for

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

solo by the Polish composer Karol Szymanowski, completed in 1915. It is a cycle of three miniature

tone poem A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music, usually in a single continuous movement, which illustrates or evokes the content of a poem, short story, novel, painting, landscape, or other (non-musical) source. The German term ''T ...

s drawing on

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities ...

. Each of the three

movements Movement may refer to: Common uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Motion, commonly referred to as movement Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...

features a female character encountered by Odysseus on his homeward voyage. The movements are: * "The Isle of the Sirens" * "Calypso" * "Nausicaa" The work may have been inspired by the metopes of the temple at

Selinunte Selinunte (; grc, Σελῑνοῦς, Selīnoûs ; la, Selīnūs , ; scn, Silinunti ) was a rich and extensive ancient Greek city on the south-western coast of Sicily in Italy. It was situated between the valleys of the Cottone and Modion ...

. The composition is the first of four piano works composed by Szymanowski during the First World War, an intensely productive period for the composer. In style it resembles

impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

and

bitonal Polytonality (also polyharmony) is the musical use of more than one key simultaneously. Bitonality is the use of only two different keys at the same time. Polyvalence or polyvalency is the use of more than one harmonic function, from the same key, ...

works by

Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...

and

Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...

References

* Didier van Moere, CD booklet insert: Szymanowki Sonata no 3, Masques, Métopes, performed by

Piotr Anderszewski Piotr Anderszewski () (born 1969) is a Polish pianist and composer. Biographical background Anderszewski was born in Warsaw, Poland. His father's family was part of Poland's aristocracy while his mother came from a Jewish Hungarian family. He s ...

, 2005 * Malcolm MacDonald, CD booklet insert: Szymanowski piano works and works for violin and piano, various performers, EMI classics 2005

External links

*
Lecture-recital by Mikoklaj Warszynski
who has recorded the work on this album which appears on Spotif

Compositions for solo piano Compositions by Karol Szymanowski 1915 compositions Suites (music) {{Classical-composition-stub