To Heather Roche

Four meditations on our metastable states

Happiness is so fragile, a kind of precarious and improbable balance: a multicolour soap bubble. How can one fully enjoy it despite the vertigo its transience induces? It seems that reflection on impermanence was, and forever will be, at the heart of self-conscience, both for the individual and society. This permanence should soothe me.

[ix-11]

La rupture inéluctable [The Ineluctable Rupture] was realized in 2010-11 at the composer’s studio and the studios of the University of Huddersfield (UK) and premiered by Heather Roche on November 3, 2011 during the concert live@CIRMMT: Ébène et métal in Montréal (Québec). The piece was commissioned by Heather Roche, with support from the Canada Council for the Arts (CCA).

Composition

• 2010 – 2011, Personal studio, Huddersfield (England, UK)
• 2010 – 2011, Music Technology Studios — University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield (England, UK)

Premiere

• November 3, 2011, Heather Roche, bass clarinet • live @ CIRMMT: Ébène et métal: Heather Roche, Music Multimedia Room — Pavillon de musique Elizabeth Wirth — Université McGill, Montréal (Québec)

About this sound recording

This version was recorded by Heather Roche in the studios of the University of Huddersfield (UK) on September 18 and 19, 2012.

Recording

• September 18 – 19, 2012, Music Technology Studios — University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield (England, UK)

Mastering

• August 6, 2013, Dominique Bassal • Studio Inverse, Montréal (Québec)

Performers

• Heather Roche, bass clarinet

Ecclesiastes

Mastering

• August 6, 2013, Dominique Bassal • Studio Inverse, Montréal (Québec)

Performers

• Heather Roche, bass clarinet

Latin phrase

Mastering

• August 6, 2013, Dominique Bassal • Studio Inverse, Montréal (Québec)

Performers

• Heather Roche, bass clarinet

3rd Nocturn of Matins of the Office of the Dead

Mastering

• August 6, 2013, Dominique Bassal • Studio Inverse, Montréal (Québec)

Performers

• Heather Roche, bass clarinet

Horace, Odes

Mastering

• August 6, 2013, Dominique Bassal • Studio Inverse, Montréal (Québec)

Performers

• Heather Roche, bass clarinet

To Messiaen, Stravinsky, Varèse, and other casters

The bell caster knows what he is doing: he has a clear idea of a sound, and despite the elements that are against him, he will know how to mix the alloy, to cast the form, and to refine the rough to give it the sonic aura dreamed of, where timbre and pitch are one.

He will also give to humanity an eternal inheritance. Because once tuned, the bell will keep forever the imprint of its caster, of dazzling beauty, of radiating power, but not without a hint of melancholy, especially when heard at distance, through the fog…

How to resist to this mermaid’s call? Should we not trust this goddesses’ chant to avoid a shipwreck? Let us pay them a tribute, and try to outlast them!

[viii-13]

Le tombeau des fondeurs [The Tomb of the Casters] was realized in 2008 at the composer’s studio and the studios of the University of Huddersfield (UK) and premiered by Wilhem Latchoumia on October 18, 2008 at Studio 4’33” in Ivry-sur-Seine (France). The piece was commissioned by Pierre Malbos. The piano Baschet-Malbos is built, tuned, modified, and maintained by Pierre Malbos.

Composition

• 2008, Personal studio, Huddersfield (England, UK)
• 2008, Music Technology Studios — University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield (England, UK)

Premiere

• October 18, 2008, Wilhem Latchoumia, piano Baschet-Malbos • Concert, Studio 4’33”, Ivry-sur-Seine (Val-de-Marne, France)

About this sound recording

This version was recorded by Sarah Nicolls at Studio 4’33” on November 24 and 25, 2012. Thanks to Françoise de Latour and Pierre Malbos to have made this sound recording possible.

Recording

• November 24 – 25, 2012, Studio 4’33”, Ivry-sur-Seine (Val-de-Marne, France)

Mastering

• August 6, 2013, Dominique Bassal • Studio Inverse, Montréal (Québec)

Performers

• Sarah Nicolls, Baschet-Malbos piano

To Jean-François Laporte

On empathy towards transient things

Making tea: what a nice way to contemplate various life cycles at a glance! Listening to the trembling water, gazing at the unfolding leaves, smelling the extracting aromas. Then, exploring the taste, the texture, the after-taste. Finally, observing the many imperfections of the earthenware, and of the hand that holds it, and of the passing moment that erodes everything: so much beauty within these infinite nuances, when one takes the time to dwell upon them.

As Okakura Kakuzō said so eloquently in The Book of Tea (1906): “The heaven of modern humanity is indeed shattered in the Cyclopean struggle for wealth and power. The world is groping in the shadow of egotism and vulgarity. Knowledge is bought through a bad conscience, benevolence practiced for the sake of utility. The East and the West, like two dragons tossed in a sea of ferment, in vain strive to regain the jewel of life. We need a Niuka again to repair the grand devastation; we await the great Avatar. Meanwhile, let us have a sip of tea. The afternoon glow is brightening the bamboos, the fountains are bubbling with delight, the soughing of the pines is heard in our kettle. Let us dream of evanescence, and linger in the beautiful foolishness of things.”

[ix-13]

Mono no aware was realized in 2013 at the composer’s studio and the studios of the University of Huddersfield (UK) and premiered by Jean-François Laporte on June 1, 2013 during the concert Totem électrique V in the Studio multimédia of the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal (Québec). The piece was commissioned by Productions Totem contemporain.

Composition

• 2013, Personal studio, Huddersfield (England, UK)
• 2013, Music Technology Studios — University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield (England, UK)

Premiere

• June 1, 2013, Jean-François Laporte, Babel table • Totem électrique: Totem électrique V, Studio multimédia — Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, Montréal (Québec)

About this sound recording

This version was recorded by Jean-François Laporte in the multichannel studio of the Faculté de musique of the Université de Montréal on June 2, 2013. Thanks to Sylvain Pohu and Jean Piché to have made the sound recording possible.

Recording

• June 2, 2013, Faculté de musique – Université de Montréal, Montréal (Québec)

Mastering

• August 6, 2013, Dominique Bassal • Studio Inverse, Montréal (Québec)

Performers

• Jean-François Laporte, Babel table

To Peyee Chen

A short chamber opera

Waiting in vain, a story of hope, self-doubt, anticipation, impatience, fantasy, exasperation, resentment, despair… usually directed at the other, it is mostly a hatred of our own latent life, to which, after the turmoil of these contradicting emotions, we will return, still, again, waiting in vain.

[viii-13]

Still, Again was realized in 2012-13 at the composer’s studio and the studios of the University of Huddersfield (UK). The work was premiered by Peyee Chen on November 26, 2014 in Phipps Concert Hall of the Creative Arts Building of the University of Huddersfield, during the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (HCMF).

Composition

• 2012 – 2013, Personal studio, Huddersfield (England, UK)
• 2012 – 2013, Music Technology Studios — University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield (England, UK)

Premiere

• November 26, 2014, Peyee Chen, voice • hcmf// 2014: 18. Electric Spring @ 20, Phipps Hall — Creative Arts Building — University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield (England, UK)

About this sound recording

This version was recorded by Peyee Chen in the studios of the University of Huddersfield (UK) on May 17 and July 5, 2013.

Recording

• May 17, 2013, Music Technology Studios — University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield (England, UK)
• July 5, 2013, Music Technology Studios — University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield (England, UK)

Mastering

• August 6, 2013, Dominique Bassal • Studio Inverse, Montréal (Québec)

Performers

• Peyee Chen, soprano

To Sarah Nicolls

“Such is the life of a man. Moments of joy, obliterated by unforgettable sorrow. There is no need to tell the children so.” — Marcel Pagnol, My Mother’s Castle (1958)

Bull fighting disgusted me by principle, until I actually attended to a corrida: the smell of sweat, dust and blood, the cheers and the music, moreover the beauty of the ritual touched me deeply. And then, the bull in the arena as an allegory of life: one enters, is stirred up by the throes of destiny until one’s only possible end…

[ix-13]

Un clou, son marteau, et le béton [A Nail, Its Hammer, and The Concrete] was realized in 2008-09 at the composer’s studio and the studios of the University of Huddersfield (UK) and premiered by Sarah Nicolls on March 6, 2009 in Phipps Concert Hall of the Creative Arts Building of the University of Huddersfield. The piece was commissioned by Sarah Nicolls.

Composition

• 2008 – 2009, Personal studio, Huddersfield (England, UK)
• 2008 – 2009, Music Technology Studios — University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield (England, UK)

Premiere

• March 6, 2009, Sarah Nicolls, piano; Pierre Alexandre Tremblay, diffusion • Sarah Nicolls Presents Interactivity, Phipps Hall — Creative Arts Building — University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield (England, UK)

About this sound recording

This version was recorded by Sarah Nicolls in the studio of the University of Huddersfield (UK) on December 18 and 19, 2011. Thanks to Jordan Anderson-Hyland for the technical assistance, and to Barry Haynes for the piano tuning.

Recording

• December 18 – 19, 2011, Music Technology Studios — University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield (England, UK)

Mastering

• August 6, 2013, Dominique Bassal • Studio Inverse, Montréal (Québec)

Performers

• Sarah Nicolls, piano