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Soap Opera: the diary of one who disappears
(2010), a monodrama in
16 miniatures for countertenor, fl, cl,
vn, vc, pno & perc - 45 minutes
Robert Expert and the
TM+ ensemble, Laurent Cuniot, conductor
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n° 05: an enemy - 03:54
n° 06: unexpected guest - 02:11
n° 07: bubbles - 03:46
n° 12: an encounter - 02:27
n° 15: final tortures - 01:45
NotesHere in its French version, Soap Opera relates the story of a bar of soap who
ignores his own ephemeral condition: he likes to swim, to hide in the bath, is in love with his mistress, resentful of the washcloth, and doesn't understand
why he's always losing weight. Of course, it ends badly...
The piece is comic but also strangely affecting: a sort of metaphysics of toiletries.
This forty-five minute fantasy also stands as a metaphor for man's relationship with death.
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La Femme Adultère (2010), for string quartet and percussion - 12 mn
Empyrean Ensemble
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Excerpt n° 1: tuilages 1 - 02:12
Extrait n° 2: canon 3 (end) - 02:30
NotesInspired by the last page of Albert Camus' eponymous novella and composed for the Empyrean Ensemble based
in Davis, California, La Femme Adultère evokes the physical, emotional, and metaphysical encounter of a woman with the Sahara during a cold winter night. This
composition relies on this notion of suspended time that I cherish so and which is found in st(r)ay, stretch, chains, pools, etc.. The piece starts with aridity and solitude,
goes through passion and ecstasy before culminating in renouncement and loss of self.
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st(r)ay (2006), for string quintet - 14 mn
Left Coast ensemble
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Excerpt n° 1: Canonic waltzes - 03:49
Excerpt n° 2: Ending echoes - 02:58
Complete piece - 14:12
NotesComposed in 2006 on a commission from the Left Coast Ensemble (San Francisco), this piece was written
as a companion for Schubert's C Major Quintet. This composition relies on some aspects found in the slow movement of the Schubert: the use of neighboring tones for harmony and
melody, a certain idea of suspended time, and the constant harmonic reinterpretation of sustained notes. The working title was ‘stay’, as I
intended to write a completely static piece but, as it often happens, I couldn’t quite control the piece, and it escaped, thus becoming ‘stray’.
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peal (2000), for "Pierrot" quintet - 11 mn
Ensemble Da Capo
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Excerpt n° 1: beginning - 01:22
Excerpt n° 2: towards the climax - 02:38
Excerpt n° 3: end - 02:38
Full piece - 11:12
NotesComposed in 2000 on a commission from the Da Capo Chamber Players (New York),
this quintet explores the concept of energy being alternately compressed and released. This is here found at all levels: formal,
structural, melodic, harmonic, etc. The piece, very contrasted and energetic, reaches eventually a very violent emotional summit from
which it will not recover. The piece is based on a very long theme treated throughout as a two voice canon by inversion. Modifications in the
symmetry axis, imitation interval, or dux-comes order give the piece all its variety and interest.
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Double Salt Variations (2007), for two pianos - 10 mn
DUO
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Variation 1, excerpt - 00:32
Variation 3, excerpt - 00:55
Variation 4, excerpt - 01:11
Variation 6 (excerpt) and end - 02:03
NotesThe piece is based on a "soggetto cavato": the theme of an extremely popular song of the 1920s.
Since I didn't want the theme to be identified, I distributed it between the two pianos in different registers. Hence the title, which describes a salt which
appears in solution as if it were two separate salts, forms a single substance upon crystallization. The piece lasts about ten minutes for six variations.
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Poétique des Fluides (2005), for piano trio - 25 mn
Trio Mojave
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I. Alternando la calma e gli inizi - 15:58
II. Ghiacciato - 06:08
III. A perdifiato - 04:01
NotesComposed in response to a commission from the Eroica, Mojave, Mannes and Kungsbacka trios, this
trio is comprised of three movements of contrasting lengths. The 15 minutes of the first movement alternate static episodes with joyful dashes. The second movement
is a lyrical meditation and the last one a wild, ever accelerating finale. The piece makes extensive use of canons in the first two movements.
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Inner Banners (2004), for solo piano - 34 mn - excerpts
Genevieve Lee, piano
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II. Chains - 04:12
III. Pools - 10:10
IV. The self-erasing Bird - 05:48
NotesComposed in 2004 on a commission from the Barlow Endowment for pianist Genevieve Lee, Inner Banners
is a cycle in which each of the five movements evokes an element as described by the ancient Greeks: earth, fire, water, and air, with the addition of a fifth one
borrowed from Chinese mythology: metal.
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Stringware (1997), for string ensembles - excerpts
II. swoon - 06:53
Works for large ensemble
- Elastique (2007), for large mixed ensemble - 12 mn
Orkest de Volharding, Jussi Jaatinen, conductor
NotesWritten in 2007 for Amsterdam's Orkest de Volharding with funds from the American Music Center,
Elastique was chosen among more than 400 creations by Volharding for their farewell concert after 48 years of existence. Entirely inspired by the
sound of the big band, this composition takes as pretext the concept of elasticity within the field of fluid mechanics. These elastic deformations
are everywhere: the crescendos and diminuendos in the initial canon and in the theme, the tempo variations, the manipulations of durations, the expansion or
contraction of the orchestra's tessitura.
- swirl (2006), for string orchestra - 4 mn
The Chamber Orchestra Kremlin, Mischa Rachlevsky, conductor
Notesswirl is a transcription of the last movement of my piano trio Poétique des Fluides. This blazing finale
shrinks from 12/8 to 3/8 in the space of four minutes. In this version, it won the Grand Prize in the international composition competition Homage to Mozart in Moscow in 2006.
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Talaria (2001), for wind ensemble - 17 mn
The Lawrence University Wind Ensemble, Robert Levy, conductor
NotesTalaria is a scherzoid study on fluidity and protean transformations over a unique theme. The contrapuntal
treatment of the latter creates atmospheres and textures which evolve constantly,creating a kaleidoscopic experience for the listener. This piece won the
Honorable Mention in the 2006 Barlow Prize.
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stretch (1996), for orchestra - 16 mn
Excerpt: climax and end: 6 minutes. The Lawrence University Philharmonic Orchestra, Bridget Reischl, conductor
NotesStretch is an attempt at lengthening time utilizing mensuration canons and simple additive
and subtractive procedures.