LDV103

28 POÉTESSES SYMPHONIQUES In 1882 and 1883, Holmès published three symphonic poems: Irlande , Andromède and Pologne . They were issued in piano reductions (for two or four hands) and two of the three swiftly found a niche in the concert hall in their initial orchestral form: Irlande and Pologne were premiered by Jules Pasdeloup in March 1882 and December 1883 respectively. But Andromède remained in the bottom drawer until January 1900. The undeniable influence of Wagner on its style may explain why it failed to enter concert programmes at once: the Master of Bayreuth was detested by Parisian audiences in the 1880s, but had become impossible to ignore by the turn of the century. The work follows step by step a long poem in alexandrines written by the composer herself. It focuses more especially on the rescue of the heroine – a ‘pure-hearted maiden’ abandoned to the sea monster to appease the wrath of the gods – by Perseus, riding his flying horse Pegasus. The last two stanzas explain the symbolic significance of this mythological scene: the human soul, like Andromeda, can be liberated – For, far from the abyss where catastrophic waves boom, Far from the monster Grief, devourer of Day, Winged Poetry and immortal Love Will bear you to the true gods, among the stars!