Happy humans in troubled times. A privilege, and a recurring source of angst and guilt, as most of my pieces betray. Moreover, I am saturated, like most people, by the incessant stream of stimuli: ads, social media, (curated) news of the unfair world, fascinating discoveries, and whatever else. It all resonates a little too much with the natural thunderstorm in my hyperactive head.

To cope, I attempt mindfulness. Actually, I do that more to truly enjoy my privileged life as it is: a rather difficult task. I therefore share here a sonic musing on the pleasure of contemplating the complex ebb and flow of the million things that fight for my attention, when I manage to weaken the grip of this frenzy on my angst, guilt and powerlessness, and just observe it with open curiosity.

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Tentatives d’immobilité [Attempts at Stillness] was realized between April and November 2017 at the composer’s studio in Huddersfield (England, UK) and premiered on the radio on November 29, 2017 during the rAdioCUSTICA program of Český rozhlas (Czech Republic). The 5.1 version was realized in 2020. Thanks to Pavel Klusák, Édouard Levasseur, and Maxime Levasseur for blindly lending me their voices, and Michal Rataj, for the absolute trust and the stimulating discussions. Part of the creation process was supported by the FluCoMa project (European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, grant #725899).

Composition

• April – November 2017, Personal studio, Huddersfield (England, UK)

Premiere

• November 29, 2017, rAdioCUSTICA, Český rozhlas, Czech Republic

Mixing

• 2020, version 5.1: Huddersfield (England, UK)

Mastering

• June 2021, Dominique Bassal • Studio Inverse, Montréal (Québec)