Category Archives: 1. Cycle: Urbana

1. Cycle: Urbana, 6. Chamber music, All the compositions

Más allá del rojo (Au delà du rouge) (1991) (Urbana 9)

For Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Cello and Piano

Commissioned by Musiques Obliques ensemble

Premiere in the Auditorium of  musée Grñevin on 11th June 1991.

Duration: 13 minutes

It is the oldest of the works in the Urbana cycle. I have decided a posteriori to include it because it is the founding work that led me to think the sonorous space in a different way, and also because it is located at the beginning of the questioning that carried me to imagine the suitability between the poetic and the musical material that I have always wanted to experiment in the composition.

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1. Cycle: Urbana, 6. Chamber music, All the compositions

Déclives (1992) (Urbana 23)

For tuba (and bass trombone), percussion and electroacoustic device.

Commissioned by the Interface ensemble

Déclives premiered in June, 1992 at the Chapelle Auguste Perret, Arcueil by Gérard Buquet and Daniel Ciampollini.

For Gérard Buquet and Daniel Ciampollini.

Duration: circa 18 minutes.

At the beginning of this work, I thought about relating two series of short pieces. The first one, a new version of a former Déclives, rewritten for baritone saxophone and percussion. The idea was to make it have a dialogue with Alto Voltango for vibraphone and alto saxophone.

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1. Cycle: Urbana, 5. Solo instrument /with or without electronics, All the compositions

La sphère et la pierre (1994) (Urbana 8)

The Sphere and the rock (1993-94)     
For recorded sounds.

Commissioned by INA-GRM (Musical Research Group)

Premiered on 16th May, 1994 at Salle Olivier Messiæn – Cycle Son-MU, Maison de Radio France

Duration: 17’ 30”

Two influences are in the origin of the composition of this piece.

The first one I owe to Borges’ Aleph: 

“…the only place on earth where all places are — seen from every angle”, “The Faithful who gather at the mosque of Amr, in Cairo, are acquainted with the fact that the entire universe lies inside one of the stone pillars that ring its central court… No one, of course, can actually see it, but those who lay an ear against the surface tell that after some short while they perceive its busy hum…”

Perhaps we all look for that impossible concentration in immaterial music, a totality in an individual form.

The other influence is pictorial.

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1. Cycle: Urbana, 6. Chamber music, All the compositions

Ka, III (Urbana 7.c)

(Five musical poems)
for flute, clarinet, violin, cello and electronics – circa 15 min.

Commissioned by the MIXTUR Festival for ensemble Diagonal

The very first version of Ka was written for clarinet, horn, violin, cello, percussion and two synthesizers in real time. This new version, the third, is a transcription for flutes, clarinet, violin and cello. The percussion and the synthesizers have been reorganized in fixed electronic sequences. The four acoustic instruments are processed in real time. In the original version the five acoustic instruments were amplified, in this new version the treatments are in precise relation with a time line and are evolved all over the 5 parts of the piece, they are a kind of small orchestra in a strong relationship with the electronic part.

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1. Cycle: Urbana, 6. Chamber music, All the compositions

Ka, II (Urbana 7.b)

Five musical poems
For flute, 2 saxophones, clarinette, percussion and electronics.

Commissioned by CIP (International Percussion Centre) for the Hic et Nunc ensemble

The first version of Ka was written for clarinet, French horn, violin, cello, percussion, and two live synthesisers. This new version, transcribed only for wind instruments and percussion, takes up period electronics without retouches or additions.

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1. Cycle: Urbana, 6. Chamber music, All the compositions

Ka, Cinq poèmes musicaux (1993-94) (Urbana 7.a)

KA, “five musical poems” (1993-94) 
For clarinet, horn, violin, cello, percussion, and two synthesisers.

Commissioned by the French Government.
Premiere in February, 1995 by Ensemble TM+,
directed by Laurent Cuniot.

Duration: 22 minutes.

There is no recording of this version.

There are three versions of KA:

KA (93-94) (7.A)
Ka II (2007) (7.B) for flute, clarinet, two saxophones, percussion, and electronic.
Ka III (2015) (7.C) for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and electronic.

During the period of creation of this piece I had in mind the idea of a relationship which always seems present, the relationship between music and other forms of art. The secret hope was that these pieces could inspire five poems (true poems, with words), five frames, one film. I know that this hope is born out of solitude and isolation.

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1. Cycle: Urbana, 6. Chamber music, All the compositions

Sextuor « . » (1994-95) (Urbana 25)

For a trio of clarinets and a trio of strings

Commissioned by TM+ ensemble

The different motivations for the composition of Sextuor « . », together with the languages used to put them into practice (languages that may appear, at first sight, antinomic or whimsical), are materialised as a sort of auditory journey that becomes the play itself. In this journey the ideas take precedence without the stages or states being fully shown. What matters is that from an old memory (either true or false), a new piece can emerge. Continue reading Sextuor « . » (1994-95) (Urbana 25) →