Szymanowski - La Fontaine d'Arethuse from Mythes, Op. 30 (Transcribed for Cello and Piano)

Karol Szymanowski’s Mythes, Op. 30, is a suite for violin and piano written in 1915 and premiered the following year by Paweł Kochański, with the composer at the piano. Dedicated to Kochański’s wife, Zofia Kochańska, the work consists of three programmatic miniature tone poems inspired by Greek mythology. Like the roughly contemporary Métopes, Mythes reflects Szymanowski’s travels in Sicily and North Africa, as well as the influence of Impressionist color and texture. The work is considered an important milestone in twentieth-century violin writing and was admired by contemporaries including Béla Bartók and Sergei Prokofiev.

The first movement, La Fontaine d’Aréthuse, draws on the myth of Arethusa, a nymph who fled from Arcadia beneath the sea and emerged as a freshwater fountain on the island of Ortygia in Syracuse, Sicily. This transcription brings the movement’s shimmering textures, sensuous lyricism, and atmospheric color into the cello repertoire.

Expressive, technically demanding, and richly evocative, La Fontaine d’Aréthuse is well suited for advanced cellists seeking distinctive early twentieth-century repertoire. This set contains the cello part and a copy of a public-domain piano part.

ASTA level: 4