I completed this piece thanks to the help of Chopin who, for the occasion, loaned me his Fantaisie-Impromptu in C-sharp minor, opus 66 for piano. All the materials in my piece (aside from a brief allusion to Schumann) come from this work: the harmonic colours, the pitches, but also the agitation in the writing, the overly abundant energy, the tension. A sort of cry expressing the ‘tortures of the soul’ that continue to plague contemporary human beings, in spite of the myth of a liberating technology. We remain unabashed Romantics…

[i-01]

Impromptu 2 premiered on January 30, 1996 by Manuel Schweizer, piano, and Anne Gaudemer, keyboard both from the Ensemble Grame, during the concert Live from Lyon produced by SMCQ at Salle Pierre-Mercure in Montréal. Impromptu 2 was commissioned by the SMCQ with support from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ).

Composition

• 1994, Personal studio, Montréal (Québec)

Premiere

• January 30, 1996, Manuel Schweizer, piano; Anne Gaudemer, keyboard • Live from Lyon, Salle Pierre-Mercure — Centre Pierre-Péladeau, Montréal (Québec)

About this sound recording

This version of Impromptu 2 was performed by Brigitte Poulin, piano, and David Cronkite, keyboard, recorded at the Chapelle historique du Bon-Pasteur in July 2014, and remixed at the composer’s studio in November 2021.

Recording

• July 2014, Yves Daoust • Chapelle historique du Bon-Pasteur, Montréal (Québec)

Mixing

• August – October 2014, Yves Daoust • Personal studio, Montréal (Québec)
• November 4, 2014, Dominique Bassal • Studio Inverse, Montréal (Québec)

Remixing

• November 2021, Yves Daoust • Personal studio, Montréal (Québec)

Performers

• Brigitte Poulin, piano
• David Cronkite, keyboard