Six metamorphoses according to Ovid
The Six Metamorphoses after Ovid (op. 49) are six pieces for solo oboe composed by Benjamin Britten in 1951 . The work, which attempts to depict images from the Metamorphoses of the Roman poet Ovid , is dedicated to the oboist Joy Boughton, the daughter of the composer Rutland Boughton , a friend of Britten. It was premiered by her on June 14, 1951 at the Aldeburgh Festival .
shape
As the title suggests, the work consists of six pieces, all of which are headed as a program with a summary of the respective metamorphosis :
- Pan who played upon the reed pipe which was Syrinx, his beloved.
- Phaeton who rode upon the chariot of the sun for one day and was hurled into the river Padus by a thunderbolt.
- Niobe who, lamenting the death of her fourteen children, was turned into a mountain.
- Bacchus , at whose feasts is heard the noise of gaggling women's tattling tongues and shouting out of boys.
- Narcissus who fell in love with his own image and became a flower.
- Arethusa who, flying from the love of Alpheus the river god, was turned into a fountain.
Most of the pieces contain small pauses or fermatas between each phrase. A performance lasts approximately 12–15 minutes.