Éclats de voix

To Martine Blain

The primary visual imagery of the title (Bursts of Voices), the fragmentation of the voice into little shatters, is augmented by the connotation of anger — a child’s sudden anger which appears like a tornado, to disappear just as quickly. The voice is of an 11-year-old child who wholeheartedly joined in the game of recording dozens of sounds from the Dictionnaire des bruits by Jean-Claude Trait and Yvon Dulude. The work is divided into five sections which represent childhood ‘states’ and a corresponding sonorous parameter. These different sections are presented one after the other in concert, or separately when broadcast on radio.

Éclats de voix was realized in the composer’s studio and at the Groupe de recherches musicales (GRM) in Paris from recordings of the voice of Marie-Hélène Blain. It was premiered on September 26, 1991 in stereo by CKUT FM in Montréal. Éclats de voix was commissioned by CKUT with support from the Canada Council for the Arts (CCA). The piece was awarded the 1st prize by Jury and tied for the Public’s Prize at the 2nd Prix international Noroit-Léonce Petitot (Arras, France, 1991) and recorded on the compact disc Prix international Noroit-Léonce Petitot 1991 (NOR 2). It was also awarded a Mention at the Stockholm Electronic Arts Award Competition (Sweden, 1992), an Honorable Mention at the Prix Ars Electronica (Linz, Austria, 1993), and a 1st Mention at the Bourges International Electroacoustic Music Competition (France, 1993).

Premiere

• September 26, 1991, Concert, CKUT FM, Montréal (Québec)

Awards

• 1st prize, 2nd Noroit-Leonce Petitot International Prize 1991, Arras (Pas-de-Calais, France)
• Public prize ex æquo, 2nd Noroit-Leonce Petitot International Prize 1991, Arras (Pas-de-Calais, France)
• Mention, Stockholm Electronic Arts Award 1992, Stockholm (Sweden)
• First Mention, Studio Electroacoustic Music Prize, 21th Bourges International Electroacoustic Music Competition 1993, Bourges (Cher, France)
• Honorable Mention, Computer Music, Prix Ars Electronica 1993, Linz (Austria)
• Honorable Mention, Category A (fixed medium), Musica Nova 1994, Prague (Czech Republic)

About this sound recording

This version is a stereophonic recording of 14-channel sound diffusion realized at The Banff Centre for the Arts (engineers: Antonio Oliart and Stephanie Rogers; assistant: Jennifer Lewis) in July, 1993.

Spleen

Spleen is comprised solely of the voices of four adolescents, aged 16 years. The title refers to one of the most significant moods of the adolescent: this kind of sudden melancholy which surfaces for no apparent reason. This work is a sequel to a previous piece, Éclats de voix, which utilized dozens of sounds from the Dictionnaire des bruits by Jean-Claude Trait and Yvon Dulude as a sonorous base. Onomatopoetic, the material is extremely rich because it represents those instances when the sounds of human language correspond directly to the designated object or to the expression of a sentiment.

The piece is divided into five sections which represent typical situations for the adolescent, and a corresponding sonorous parameter. These sections are presented successively in concert, or separately when broadcast on radio.

Spleen was realized in the composer’s studio from recordings of the voice of Marc Gilbert, Laurent-Josée Sainte-Marie, Nicolas Thériault and Patrick Virar. It was premiered during the radio festival Journées Électro-Radio Days (JERD) broadcast live in Montréal, Toronto, and Vancouver on December 10, 1993. Spleen was realized with support from the Audio program of the Media Arts Section of the Canada Council for the Arts (CCA). The piece was awarded the Public’s Prize at the 3rd Prix international Noroit-Léonce Petitot (Arras, France, 1994).

Premiere

• December 10, 1993, Journées Électro-Radio Days: 3 — Montréal CKUT 90.3 FM, Espace ACREQ, Montréal (Québec)

Awards

• Public prize, 3rd Noroit-Leonce Petitot International Prize 1993, Arras (Pas-de-Calais, France)
• Main Prize, Category A (fixed medium), Musica Nova 1995, Prague (Czech Republic)

Le renard et la rose

To Odile Magnan

Le renard et la rose [The Fox and the Rose] is a concert suite composed from two sound sources: the music commissioned for an adaptation for radio of the book The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (produced by Odile Magnan for Radio-Canada in 1994) and whose principal themes are found in it, and the voices of the actors who collaborated in the recording of the radio adaptation.

It is the third work in a cycle begun in 1991 (Éclats de voix and Spleen [recorded on the album Tangram, empreintes DIGITALes, IMED 9419/20, and IMED 9920] were the first two) and is based exclusively on the use of the voice; more specifically on onomatopoeia, which is the only form in human language that corresponds directly to the designated objects, gestures or feelings as sounds, rather than as the abstract representations that are words.

In each of the work’s five parts a state or feeling experienced in adulthood is associated with a sonic framework: Babillage et rythme (Babbling and Rhythm), Nostalgie et timbre (Nostalgia and Tone), Colère et dynamique (Anger and Dynamics), Lassitude et espace (Weariness and Space), Sérénité et texture (Serenity and Texture). In them the musical themes associated with the different characters in the book are arranged chronologically: the King, the Businessman, the Conceited Man, the Flock of Wild Birds, the Well in the Desert, the Rose, the Baobabs, the Lamplighter, the Little Flower, the Merchant Who Sold Thirst-Quenching Pills, the Fox and the Geographer.

The voices of the different characters are those of Pierre Bourgault, Françoise Davoine, Cynthia Dubois, Michel Dumont, Gilles Dupuis, Luc Durand, Monique Giroux, Jacques Languirand, Jean Marchand, Jean-Louis Millette, Guy Nadon, Martin Pensa, Gérard Poirier, Claude Préfontaine and Christine Séguin.

— Robert Normandeau [English translation: Tom Carter]

Le renard et la rose was realized at the composer’s studio with a grant from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ). The piece was commissioned by The Banff Centre for the Arts for the 1995 International Computer Music Conference (ICMC ’95) with support from the Canada Council for the Arts (CCA). Le renard et la rose had its premiere on September 6, 1995 at the Banff Centre for the Arts. It won the Golden Nica at the Prix Ars Electronica (Linz, Autriche, 1996). It has been recorded a number of times: Prix Ars Electronica 1996 (ORF PAE 96), Le petit prince d’Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, CBC Records (MVCD 1091-2) and Sonic Circuits V (Innova 114).

Premiere

• September 6, 1995, ICMC 1995: Concert, Margaret Greenham Theatre — The Banff Centre for the Arts, Banff (Alberta, Canada)

Awards

• Golden Nica, Computer Music, Prix Ars Electronica 1996, Linz (Austria)

Palimpseste

To Anick

Palimpseste is the fourth and final piece of a cycle called Onomatopoeias begun in 1991 with Éclats de voix followed by Spleen (1993) and Le renard et la rose (1995). The pieces of the cycle were dedicated to the childhood, adolescence and adulthood where the fourth one is an homage to old age. As with the first three pieces, this one is divided into five sections, each of them evoking a feeling associated to a musical parameter: Fury and Rhythm; Bitterness and Timbre; Anger and Dynamics; Tiredness and Space; Wisdom and Texture. The title refers to a palimpsest, which is a manuscript on which the first text (even many texts) was erased in order to write a new one over it (parchments being rare and precious). Here, the first text was the timeline structure of the previous works. It is still there but in the background. It has been written over with another layer made out of a series of new categories of sounds, more noisy, absent in the previous works of the cycle.

Palimpseste is made exclusively with vocal sounds and more specifically with onomatopoeias that are extremely rich because they represent those instances when the sounds of human language correspond directly to the designated object or to the expression of a sentiment. The voices were recorded in Germany — Christian Gressier, Eberhard Geyer, and Gabriela Lang — and in Québec — Andrée Lachapelle, and Christiane Pasquier.

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Palimpseste was realized in 2005 in the studios of the Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie Karlsruhe (ZKM) in Germany and at the composer’s studio and premiered on February 12, 2005 during the trans_canada festival under the title ZedKejeM. It was revised during the summer 2005 and premiered on October 21, 2005 during the event Theater des Hörens at the ZKM’s ZKM_Kubus. It was finally revised in 2011. Palimpseste was commissioned by the ZKM with the support of Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ) and Canada Council for the Arts (CCA). Thanks to Sabine Breitsameter and Ludger Brümmer. The work was a finalist in the Musica Nova 2005 International Competition of Electroacoustic Music (Prague, Czech Republic), and was selected by the Canadian Section of the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) to represent Canada at the 2007 World Music Days in Hong Kong.

Premiere

• February 12, 2005, trans_canada: Topographies • Topographien • Topographies, ZKM_Kubus, Karlsruhe (Baden-Württemberg, Germany)

Awards

• Finalist, Category A (fixed medium), Musica Nova 2005, Prague (Czech Republic)