MIDDELBURG "Music is part of nature and is based on biology. Those who regard music as part of human culture are making a big fallacy. I write my compositions with this thought in mind. I hope the audience will understand this premise and pay attention not to me, but to the sounds with which I want to convey this message.".François-Bernard Mâche wants to return music to its primal form. The work of this French composer takes centre stage today (Saturday) at the Festival New Music, held at Middelburg's Vleeshal.

Five times his name appears on today's programme. Elisabeth 
 Chojnacka, Geoffrey Madge and the Radio Chamber Orchestra perform compositions by Mâche, who is considered a major talent in contemporary French music.
In all his compositions, Mâche exploits the possibilities offered by the most advanced electronics. A soloist playing one of Mâche's works should therefore make himself subservient to the tape recorder. In the piece 'Works on Tape', which Mâche has played from half past one, there is no instrument involved at all. The tapes to be played introduce the listener to all facets of the sound of water.
The sounds of the other primal elements like fire and thunder form the main part of the work 'Kassandra'. On this tape, Mâche also plays a number of conversations of people communicating with each other in different languages. According to Mâche, the sounds have been selected for their phonetic value and are interspersed with the sound of exotic instruments. Incidentally, he would have liked to play these 'live', but they are so difficult to play that this could not be realised, he apologises. "As a result, the composition 'Kassandra' is no longer a 'concerto for two pianos and orchestra'", the Frenchman believes, "but a work for fourteen players and a soundtrack". The fourteen players are members of the Radio Chamber Orchestra. The piece was awarded the Prix d'Italie in 1977.
The penchant for archetypal forms is expressed again in Mâche's composition 'Korwar'. "The title is taken from an ancient custom of the native inhabitants of New Guinea," the composer explains. "The sounds they emitted are therefore strikingly similar to the sounds that can also be observed today among the animals in the forests of that area." The forest sounds are supported by the harpsichord playing of Elisabeth Chojnacka.
	François-Bernard Mâche can be called producer as much as composer. To produce his tapes, he has a studio of the French State Broadcasting Company at his disposal, where he uses mixing consoles with a frighteningly large number of channels. For the composition 'Nocturnes', which he specially commissioned by the organisers of the Festival of New Music he used the latest computer of his colleague and teacher Xenakis, who deals with roughly the same musical patterns.

Discussion
At the end of the series of performances of Mâche's work, the composer, born in Clermont-Ferrand in 1935, reappears at The VleeshaI. From 11 pm onwards, he will engage - through Geoffrey Madge - in a discussion with the audience. Mâche finds that discussion a staple of his performances. "I wouldn't want to play anymore without having the opportunity to discuss my work with the audience afterwards. Modern music is all too often misunderstood. I therefore find it perfectly logical that people have questions about it. Moreover, I find it very enjoyable to constantly come into contact with new audiences. OK, Middelburg may not be that big and therefore there is indeed a chance that I will meet the same people as last year, but still, I have noticed that Dutch people easily travel long distances to attend a concert. Therefore, tonight I can also meet people living outside Zeeland who can get acquainted with my work for the first time," Mâche hopes.
 François-Bernard Mâche appears at the Festival of New Music today as a composer. In producing his soundtrack, he is a producer. Yet he also sees himself as an artist. A characterisation of his works he himself gives most clearly: "You have to see it like this: As a painting is art, then I make photos".
            
                                       Koen van Dije  Provinciale Zeeuwse Courant, 4 juillet 1981