Après, les cendres
Stéphane Roy
Programme notes
Après, les cendres is an acousmatic work inspired by the poems ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile) and Nous sommes installés sous le tonnerre… [Under thunder] taken from the collection of poems Pour les âmes (Typo, 1993) by Québécois author Paul-Marie Lapointe (1929-2011).
ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile) evokes, among other things, humankind lulled by a false sense of security. The metaphor of sleep used in the text symbolizes an anesthetized conscience in the face of the unthinkable, as the lines “un bombardier repose à tes côtés / tes nuits sont assurées
The first three sections of Après, les cendres — noir présage, chants de mines, mur des silences — evoke the obsessive nature of fate and its manifestation in the realm of dreams. An introspective universe is created by the presence of ephemeral, furtive sounds, tormented, insistent melodies, and materials shaped by unstable spatial movements, all of which conspire to create a dreamlike universe. These sections conclude with a chimeric melody that seems to slide towards an abyss.
The final section of the work — incandescente fureur — begins with the fulfilled prophecy. A day of fury
The work concludes with the pain left behind in the ashes of war, as perfectly expressed in this moving line
[i-25]
Après, les cendres was realized in 2023 at the composer’s studio in Brossard (Québec) with support from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ) and premiered on October 22, 2023 as part of the L’Espace du son festival at Théâtre Marni in Brussels (Belgium).
Premiere
- October 22, 2023, L’Espace du son 2023
: Concert portrait: Stéphane Roy, Théâtre Marni, Brussels (Belgium)
Awards
- Honorable Mention, Category A (fixed medium), Musica Nova 2023, Prague (Czech Republic)
- Finalist, Prix CIME 2025
- Composer(s): Stéphane Roy
- Year of composition: 2023
- Duration: 15:19
- Instrumentation: 4-channel fixed medium
- Publisher(s): Ymx média
- ISRC: CAD502510027
Movements
noir présage
- Movement of: Après, les cendres
chants de mines
- Movement of: Après, les cendres
mur des silences
- Movement of: Après, les cendres
incandescente fureur
- Movement of: Après, les cendres
