In 1894, a team of French archeologists discovered the toppled ruins of elaborate caryatids which adorned the Acanthus Column near the Temple of Apollo in the Ancient Greek city of Delphi. As sculptures representing female figures, caryatids form pillars throughout Greek architecture. The graceful, flowing Dancers of Delphi, constructed around 330 BC and now forever free of their structural burden, remain frozen in motion.
The first of Claude Debussy’s 24 Préludes for solo piano is a musical homage to the Dancers of Delphi, which the composer saw in the form of a reproduction at the Louvre. Marked Lent et grave, the music evokes a sense of solemnity, timelessness, and mystery. Chords, rooted in the piano’s lower register, suggest the weight and permanence of stone columns. As with the sculpture, strength and solidity meet the sensuousness of dance and the female form.
Recordings
- Debussy: Préludes / Book 1, L.117, Danseuses de Delphes, Krystian Zimerman Amazon
Featured Image: the Dancers of Delphi, photograph by Cenk Eronat