BRAISES

Notice

The work is dedicated to Elisabeth Chojnacka , for whom I had already composed Korwar (1972), Solstice (1975), Anaphores (1981) and Guntur Madu (1990). In some respects, it’s a synthesis of the technical and aesthetic traits developed over the course of these different works. In particular, we find the instrument’s own rhythmic violence. Thanks to electric amplification, the instrument has forged a close alliance with loudspeaker technology in our century, without losing the sumptuousness of its traditional sonorities (thanks to a handful of makers such as Anthony Sidey). Although the composition of this concerto calls for an orchestra close in size to that common 250 years ago, neither the writing nor the form of this work refers to the “Baroque” tradition. If the harpsichord has been able to emancipate itself from this tradition, it is thanks in part to a few rare performers like the one to whom the work is dedicated.

Comment

Braises is a work akin to a concerto in terms of the role of the solo instrument, but its plan, unlike that of Estuaire du temps, is outside any tradition. A first movement translates natural sound patterns: the harpsichord is first used in its extreme registers, where it produces rhythmic insect sounds, and is echoed by a light orchestra. Together, they gradually bring brief, rhythmically fragmented motifs out of aperiodic time. It is the second movement – linked to the first – that gradually fixes this rhythm in a series of increasingly regular ostinati. The Baroque tradition of “notes inégales” works with that of jazz to animate with ever more assertive movement a diversified flow, like an inlay of timbres, the orchestral setting of which demands the utmost rigor from performers and conductor alike. A cadenza in the middle of the last movement gives the harpsichord a chance to make itself heard, but, contrary to tradition, this is the only moment when no virtuosity is required. The movement’s finale is one of perpetual rhythmic euphoria. Its increasing simplification goes hand in hand with an ever-simpler tonal fixation, almost like a folk dance. From start to finish, Braises follows the path of a symbolic reconciliation between nature and culture, and between freedom and tradition. Elisabeth Chojnacka was instrumental in my finally attempting to integrate in this work the initially antagonistic research I had illustrated in Korwar and Solstice respectively. As for the title, which one critic thought could be linked to the performer’s flamboyant hair, for me it is linked to the irregular crackling of fire that I had integrated into Kassandra and Maraé. Xenakis, too, had loved these sounds, which provided Concret PH with the rawest model he had ever incorporated into one of his works.