To Jorane

The word rapture can be defined in two ways: the spiritual meaning of being transported to a supernatural world, and to ravish, or take away something.

Musically, this piece borrows the idea of rolling, which is, on the one hand, a process of manufacture by plastic deformation and, on the other hand, figuratively, the action of reducing the importance of something or someone. What is distorted here is time. Time and spectra are stretched here beyond the thresholds of perception. And figuratively, what is reduced, what is ravished, is the identity of the musical sources used.

In 2018, I was invited to collaborate on the most recent project of singer and cellist Jorane. My composition work consisted of processing in real-time the musical material of the soloist, the singers, and the string quartet. It was a return to live electroacoustics for me, which had been at the heart of my first experiences and which I had neglected for the last thirty years…

This piece is the result of a mix between the materials created for the show presented in March 2019 and those that were created during two creative residencies. The first took place at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA) in Amherst (Virginia, USA) in October 2019, the second in Nice in November 2019.

Le ravissement includes nine movements: L’arrivée [Arrival]; Le doute [Doubt]; La crainte [Fear]; L’extase [Ecstasy]; L’agitation [Restlessness]; L’appel [Call]; Le détachement [Detachment]; Le ravissement [Rapture]; La disparition [Disappearance].

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Le ravissement [The Rapture] was realized in 2019 during composition residencies at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA) in Amherst (Virginia, USA) and at the Conservatoire national à rayonnement régional de Nice (France), and premiered on December 2, 2019 during the Journées nationales de la musique électroacoustique 2019 as part of the Festival Manca 2019 in Nice. The work was revised in 2021 at the composer’s studio in Montréal (Québec). Thanks to all the musicians: Chloé Lacasse, Geneviève Toupin, voice; Geneviève Clermont, violin 1; Vanessa Marcoux, violin 2; Lana Tomlin, viola; Sophie Coderre, cello; Mathieu Désy, double bass; Martin Lizotte, piano; Simon Godin, guitar; Pete Pételle, drum set. And a huge thanks to Jorane, for her trust. Thanks to Linda Watchtmeister who contributed to my residency at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA) and to all the VCCA staff. Le ravissement was a finalist for the “Premiere of the Year” award at the 26th Prix Opus 2021-22 of the Conseil québécois de la musique (CQM).

Preparation

• 2018, Montréal (Québec)

Composition

• October 2019, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA), Amherst (Virginia, USA)
• November 2019, Conservatoire national à rayonnement régional Pierre Cochereau de Nice, Nice (Alpes-Maritimes, France)

Revision

• 2021, Personal studio, Montréal (Québec)

Premiere

• December 2, 2019, Manca 2019, Journées nationales de la musique électroacoustique 2019: Micadôme, 1, Conservatoire national à rayonnement régional Pierre Cochereau de Nice – Studio Jaune (C7), Nice (Alpes-Maritimes, France)
• May 20, 2026, Premiere of the 2026 immersive version: Awash With Sound — An immersive chillout concert, Sentralen, Oslo (Norway)