''Métaboles'' is an orchestral work by

Henri Dutilleux Henri Paul Julien Dutilleux (; 22 January 1916 – 22 May 2013) was a French composer of late 20th-century classical music. Among the leading French composers of his time, his work was rooted in the Impressionistic style of Debussy and R ...

, commissioned by the conductor

George Szell George Szell (; June 7, 1897 – July 30, 1970), originally György Széll, György Endre Szél, or Georg Szell, was a Hungarian-born American conductor, composer and pianist. Considered one of the twentieth century's greatest conductors ...

in 1959 to mark the fortieth anniversary of the

Cleveland Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". T ...

. ''Métaboles'' was composed in 1963–64 and was first performed by Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra on 14 January 1965.

Description

In the early 1960s, Dutilleux wanted to move away from traditional musical forms and develop new structures that changed according to the internal logic of a particular piece. It is with this central concern in mind, a concern that the work's very title indicates, that he began to compose ''Métaboles''. In the composer's own words: In other words, throughout the work, various melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic ideas are presented and then gradually modified to the point that they transform into something radically different and undergo a complete change of nature. This new idea then serves as the basis for the next series of metamorphosis. The piece is cast in five overlapping movements that are played without pause. Each section, except the last one, highlights a particular instrumental group, allowing ''Métaboles'' to be described as concerto for orchestra. It opens with a series of chords played by the woodwinds and centered on E natural, with short interjections by pizzicato strings and harp. The sound world is reminiscent of

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of ...

's early "Russian Period". The strings pick up a variant of the melody for a brief moment and this variant is then elaborated on in the radiant second movement, wholly dedicated to

divisi In musical terminology, ''divisi'', or as typically printed ''“div.,”'' is an instruction to divide a single section of instruments into multiple subsections. This usually applies to the violins of the string section in an orchestra, although v ...

strings. Similarly, an idea presented in a double bass solo becomes the seed for the third movement, which is dominated by brass instruments and in the fourth movement, percussions outline a slowed-down reminiscence of the preceding section. Finally, the fifth movement brings all the instruments together. It combines various melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic elements from the first four sections before reinstating the E natural chords heard at the very beginning and then rushing to an exhilarating coda.

Movements

The work is in five linked movements. Dutilleux indicates that "towards the end of each piece, a new motif appears as a filigree under the symphonic texture and 'sets the bait' for the next piece, and so on...".

Instrumentation

''Métaboles'' is scored for four flutes (3rd & 4th doubling piccolos), three oboes, cor anglais, two B-flat clarinets, E-flat clarinet, bass clarinet, three bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, four trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (temple blocks, snare drum, tom-toms, bass drum, small suspended cymbal, Chinese cymbal, tam-tams, crash cymbals, triangle, cowbell, xylophone, glockenspiel), celesta, harp and strings.

References

Compositions by Henri Dutilleux 1964 compositions Compositions for symphony orchestra Music commissioned by the Cleveland Orchestra {{Classical-composition-stub