Métaboles

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.[3] 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:

The rhetorical term Métaboles, applied to a musical form, reveals my intention: to present one or several ideas in a different order and from different angles, until, by successive stages, they are made to change character completely.[4]

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.[3][4]

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.[3]

It opens with a series of chords played by the woodwinds and centered on E natural, with short interjections by pizzicato strings and harp.[4][5] The sound world is reminiscent of Stravinsky's early "Russian Period".[3] 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 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.[5] 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.[4][5]

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...".[6]

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.[3]