Éclats | Rouge

This piece was inspired by the intuitive process of Automatist painters. The first steps of its realization were guided by the idea of throwing the material directly on the fixed support and reacting to the result to fashion the contours and shapes of the work. Source recordings were made inside a piano. This piece shifts back and forth between states of restraint and explosion of a material fused with synthesized sounds. The vivid gestural process of this piece, created in a state of urgency, was inspired by the colour red.

— Pierre-Luc Lecours [English translation: François Couture, v-20]

Éclats | Rouge [Shards | Red] was realized in 2014 at the studios of the Faculty of Music of the Université de Montréal (Québec) and premiered on May 13, 2015, during the concert Video Remakes: Homage to Norman McLaren at La Fabbrica del Vedere (Venice, Italy). Thanks to Robert Normandeau for listening several times, and to the Faculty of Music of the Université de Montréal. Éclats | Rouge received the 2017 Award of the Exhibitronic Electroacoustic Music Competition (Strasbourg, France).

Premiere

• May 13, 2015, Video Remakes: Homage to Norman McLaren, La Fabbrica del Vedere, Venice (Italy)

Awards

• Prize, Exhibitronic 2017, Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin, France)

Éclats | Noir

The starting point for this “éclats” was a cello recording session with musician Émilie Girard-Charest. These basic sound materials are joined by sounds from a modular synthesizer and field recordings made in the Brussels area. The three sonic protagonists engage in dialogues of opposition, fusion, and metamorphosis, tracing a path through various materials in mutation, each in turn becoming the lead character. This piece marked the beginning of experiments with rapports between soundscapes and instrumental / electronic materials in order to explore possible aesthetic, symbolic and energetic interactions.

— Pierre-Luc Lecours [English translation: François Couture, v-20]

Éclats | Noir [Shards | Black] was realized in 2018 at the Métamorphoses d’Orphée studio of Musiques & Recherches in Ohain (Belgium) and was premiered on October 28, 2018, at Théâtre Marni (Brussels, Belgium) as part of the festival L’Espace du son. The piece was commissioned by Musiques & Recherches. Thanks to Émilie Girard-Charest (recorded cello), everyone at Musiques & Recherches, Myriam Boucher for listening several times, and the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ).

Premiere

• October 28, 2018, L’Espace du son 2018: Concert d’œuvres réalisées dans les studios Métamorphoses d’Orphée, Théâtre Marni, Brussels (Belgium)

Éclats | Blanc

This piece was composed with an aspiration to some kind of peace of mind. It was realized in a time of great upheaval. Flute recordings made with musician Julie Delisle and timpani recordings were used in creating the basic sound materials for the piece, to which layers of sound synthesis were added. The materials were deconstructed, fragmented and rebuilt into a textural symphony aspiring to a kind of luminous openness.

— Pierre-Luc Lecours [English translation: François Couture, v-20]

Éclats | Blanc [Shards | White] was realized in 2015 at the studios of the Faculty of Music of the Université de Montréal (Québec) and premiered on March 10, 2016, during the concert Soundwich (6) presented at Conservatoire de musique de Montréal (Québec). Thanks to Julie Delisle (recorded flutes) and to Robert Normandeau for listening several times. Éclats | Blanc won the 2nd prize at the Jeu de temps / Times Play competition (JTTP, 2017) of the Canadian Electroacoustic Community (CEC), the 1st prize at the Concours du Cercle des étudiants compositeurs of Université de Montréal (CeCo, Montréal, 2015), and the Colloque Musimorphoses International Composition Competition (Montréal, 2017).

Premiere

• March 10, 2016, Électrochoc 2015-16: Soundwich (6), Studio multimédia — Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, Montréal (Québec)

Awards

• Prize, Musimorphoses 2017, Montréal (Québec)
• 2nd prize, Jeu de temps / Times Play (JTTP) 2017, Canada

Éclats | Violet

This piece, inspired by the aesthetics of noise music, developed around recordings of improvisations on a modular synthesizer combined with percussion recordings made with musician Huizi Wang. Éclats | Violet is structured in three movements. It explores metamorphosis, fusion and opposition between the acoustic source sounds (paper, snare drum, timpani, bass drum) and the synthesizer recordings. In the spirit of purple, the most extreme colour on the visible spectrum, this piece features highly unstable and chaotic material, at the very limit of musicality.

— Pierre-Luc Lecours [English translation: François Couture, v-20]

Éclats | Violet [Shards | Purple] was realized in April and May 2020 in the composer’s studio (Montréal, Québec) out of a mixed work for percussion, video and processing now retitled Chroma | Violet realized in 2018 at the Métamorphoses d’Orphée studio of Musiques & Recherches (Ohain, Belgium). Thanks to Huizi Wang (recorded percussion instruments). The mixed version Chroma | Violet was premiered by percussionist Huizi Wang on November 18, 2018, during the concert 100% mixte! presented at the Salle Claude-Champagne of the Université de Montréal (Québec).