L’éveil

L’éveil initially centers on the creation of the universe and the presentation of its various poles: matter / antimatter, illumination / darkness, and searing heat / glacial cold. The idea of opposites presented at the beginning is later developed on a larger temporal scale. Slow and relatively peaceful sections alternate with highly charged, tense sections and rough textures with smooth material. Near the end of the work, the human being awakens in this hostile universe and, echoing its environment, assimilates its own oppositions such as the light and the shadow of the soul. However, these are balanced separately, yet delicately, without strife, on the fulcrum of the conscience.

L’éveil is the first work in a cycle that is inspired by the book inspired by the book Owning Your Own Shadow: Understanding the Dark Side of the Psyche (1991) by Robert A Johnson (Portland, OR, USA, 1921) which explores the paradox of opposition in the psychological realm of mankind. I translated Johnson’s psychological paradox of opposition into a physical realm of environmental proportions that I express through sound.

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L’éveil was realized in 1996-97 at the Métamorphoses d’Orphée studio of Musiques & Recherches in Ohain (Belgium) and premiered on January 11, 1997 during the Concert acousmatique: l’espace du son concert at the L’Orangerie of Le Botanique in Brussels (Belgium). L’éveil was awarded the Public Prize in March 1998 at the 5th Prix international Noroit-Léonce Petitot (Arras, France, 1997).

Premiere

• January 11, 1997, Festival de création sonore et radiophonique: Concert acousmatique 1, L’Orangerie — Le Botanique, Brussels (Belgium)

Awards

• Public prize, 5th Noroit-Leonce Petitot International Prize 1997, Arras (Pas-de-Calais, France)

About this sound recording

This version was mastered by Cyrille Carillon in September 2013 at the Studio Domino in Marseille (France).

Chat noir

Chat noir explores through sound how the paradox of opposition develops in the psychological reality of mankind, which happens notably through the shadow-making process in the young human being.

According to Johnson, when the civilizing process culls out qualities that are perilous to the smooth functioning of our ideas, they are stored in the shadow, the psychological realm for that which is unacceptable. The shadow is seen as the despised part of our being that is pushed to the bottom of the spiritual pool. We separate the self into the ego and the shadow because our culture dictates that we act in a particular way. However, very good human qualities also can be relegated to the shadow because they, too, do not fit in the vast leveling process which is culture. Chat noir explores this shadow.

The work is a scherzo in which the young human being witnesses the developing oppositions in its soul in the form of a sonic game. At every development in the game, a ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ are established, sewing the seeds for internal conflict. During the musical discourse, the ‘wrong’, the shadow accumulates energy and appears in the form of sonic knots of great tension.

Offering a counterpoint to the character of the young being and its turbulent development is the character of a small feline — a black cat. The gently playful, whimsical presence of the cat, illustrated through scampering sounds and iterations, represents the pure gold part of our personality which is often banished to the shadow.

Chat noir is the second work in a cycle that is inspired by the book Owning Your Own Shadow: Understanding the Dark Side of the Psyche (1991) by Robert A Johnson (Portland, OR, USA, 1921).

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Chat noir was realized in 1998 at the Métamorphoses d’Orphée studio of Musiques & Recherches in Ohain (Belgium) and the electroacoustic studios of City University London (England, UK), and premiered on November 18, 1998 during the 5th international acousmatic festival L’Espace du son at the XL Théâtre du Grand Midi in Brussels (Belgium). Much of the sound material for Chat noir was created in July 1996 in the studios at the Groupe de musique expérimentale de Marseille (GMEM, France). The piece was realized with the help of the ministry of Communauté française de Belgique.

Premiere

• November 18, 1998, L’Espace du son 1998: Concert d’ouverture, XL Théâtre du Grand Midi, Brussels (Belgium)

About this sound recording

This version was mastered by Cyrille Carillon in September 2013 at the Studio Domino in Marseille (France).

Neon

One of the themes put forth by Johnson explores the mandorla as applied to human consciousness, the place where light and shadow overlap, creating a field of unity in duality — the divine.

Neon represents the divine in the human consciousness expanded to an environmental scale. The work thus consists in the sonorization of a central theme: the expression on an environmental scale of a microcosm of non-sounding phenomena illustrating the opposing thoughts and feelings we experience in the human consciousness that now overlap and exist as a unified field. Since the unified field can be seen to symbolize more than the sum of its internal components, it led me to the choice of a variation of the Greek term neos literally ‘something new’, as a title.

The dense textures in Neon, which include sounds that contrast each other spectromorphologically to varying degrees, represent the co-existence of light and shadow. These textures develop over time until they climax and give way to new textures in which contrasting sounds are again placed in contexts where they re-affirm each other mutually.

Neon is the third and final electroacoustic work in a cycle that is inspired by the book Owning Your Own Shadow: Understanding the Dark Side of the Psyche (1991) by Robert A Johnson (Portland, OR, USA, 1921).

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Neon was realized in 2000-01 at the electroacoustic studios of City University London (England, UK) and at the composer’s studio in Brussels (Belgium), and premiered on May 10, 2001 as part of the concert series Trois visages de la musique électroacoustique at the Chapelle de Boondael in Brussels. Much of the material for Neon was created in July 1996 in the studios at the Groupe de musique expérimentale de Marseille (GMEM, France). Neon was awarded an Honorable Mention at the Concurso Internacional de Música Eletroacústica de São Paulo (CIMESP ’01, Brazil).

Premiere

• May 10, 2001, 3 visages de la musique électroacoustique: Le temps différé du studio, Chapelle de Boondael, Brussels (Belgium)

Awards

• Honorable Mention, International Electroacoustic Music Contest of São Paulo 2001, São Paulo (Brazil)
• Selection, Musica elettroacustica analogica e digitale, Concorso Internazionale di Composizione Città di Udine 2004, Udine (Italy)

About this sound recording

This version was mastered by Cyrille Carillon in September 2013 at the Studio Domino in Marseille (France).