François-Bernard Mâche: ........ There are two works that I conceived according to a scheme that can be compared metaphorically to the spiral, one of the great forms present in the universe. For Eridan, for example, I defined a scenario that involves the development of a spiral. In the spiral, events return to the same place, but always a little further or a little higher. In other words, Eridan is an evolving cyclical work, and it's the combination of returns and variations of the same elements that interests me. By the way, I'm currently composing a piece that partly follows this plan.
Bruno Serrou: Is this the only plan you've used?
François-Bernard Mâche: There are also archetypes like the refrain. But it's my imagination that calls up this spiral plan, because nobody can see it straight away. Starting with ABA, we clearly have ABCBA, ABCDCBA, ABCDEDCBA etc. Each time, a new element is added, while the element taken up is varied. I'm interested in this combination because it's close to what used to be called theme and variation, and it allows you to incorporate multiple refrains.
Bruno Serrou: That same year, 1986, you produced your second synthesis with the Eridan string quartet, a genre that might seem a real challenge, after Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schönberg and Bartók. Isn't it like having your back against the wall?
François-Bernard Mâche: The string quartet does indeed generally represent a challenge for the musician, since this a priori abstract form is supposed to be the quintessence of writing. This has always been a suspect area for me, insofar as it contributes to exaggerating the role of space in relation to time in music. Space is homogeneous, time is not. If music is to remain an art of time, writing must remain in its place, i.e. a perfected reminder that does not usurp the role of invention. I had a very critical attitude towards writing, while recognising that the suggestions of writing and space can produce musically interesting results, as can any anamorphosis and any procedure of translation and modelling. For me, the string quartet represents an opportunity to complete a process begun with  Octuor. In this work, I started from an earlier piece, Naluan, a mixed piece for eight instruments and a magnetic tape, a cantus firmus that the instruments dubbed or commented on. Octuor eliminated the model, becoming purely instrumental, and Eridan further simplifies the approach by reducing the number of instruments by half and moving further away from the initial model. Whereas the original birdsong was occasionally heard in the Octuor, it disappears completely in Eridan. 
Bruno Serrou: Why Eridan?
François-Bernard Mâche: In my imagination, Greek rivers play a certain role, as evidenced by a number of scores that follow the quartet, Styx, Lèthè, Achéron. The Eridan is an interesting river because, like many mythical rivers, it has a terrestrial part and an imaginary part. We don't know whether it is the Po or the Rhône, or whether this river was purely imaginary. Its etymology seems to link it to the Rhône: in Greek, Eridanos and Rhodanos are similar. This reference is a way of offsetting the formalism of the quartet with an imaginary quality conveyed by a metaphorical, mythical title. In this way, I warned against the formalistic aspect of the quartet genre. The number 4 did not serve as a stimulus, but the string quartet is a balanced formula. Nevertheless, the writing is not traditional. The virtuosity is particular, and I use bursts of pizzicati in the left hand or on the bridge. It's a very demanding work, but I wasn't worried because I was writing it for the Arditti Quartet.
Bruno Serrou: Do you use the instruments in their usual spectrum or, on the contrary, do you try to make high-pitched instruments low-pitched and vice versa?
François-Bernard Mâche: Everything has already been done with the quartet, and I don't think you can invent many new techniques, unless you're doing a circus, like playing with three bows on the same instrument...I haven't deprived myself of any techniques that are already known.