2nd string quartet "3 etchings in the mezzotint" (2005-2006)
Analysis of the work
Joseph Delaplace - The musical writing of Bernard of Vienna
The 2nd movement : the shadows of the night -of a more peaceful nature- is inspired by the anonymous poem I die without dying _cc781905-5cde-3194-bb3b- 136bad5cf58d_that Anthoine Boesset (1587-1643) set to music in one of his most famous airs de cour. Duration : approx. 5'
I die without dying night and day,
And without seeing the hand that kills me :
Fates that give me love for it,
Why are you hiding your sight ?
What remains has no charms ;
It is little to owe everything when I do not see her.
The sky of my jealous ease
Pleases in my worry ;
I run away from the softest objects ;
The Court is a solitude to me,
I prefer to all your charms
The shadows of night and that of death.
The 3rd movement : fresh and shiny blue against the background of the black sky - lighter in nature - is inspired by a short text by Pascal Quignard taken from his book Les ombres errantes (Editions Grasset). Duration : approx. 3'
The black clouds in the sky, as they tore, the blue vault suddenly appeared in a state of nudity of which it is difficult for me to give the idea. The blue was cool and glistening against the black sky.
Created on April 8, 2010 by the Debussy quartet at Espace
Musical – the Drum – Rennes 2 University.
Revival by the Bela quartet on February 9, 2012 (Rennes 2)
Duration : ca. 14'. Editions Francois Dhalmann
This work is written in three movements of opposite nature and character.
The subtitle emphasizes the work of composition: this engraving technique " à la mode noire " allows from absolute black to draw all the gradations of gray color to the purest white by small successive touches and corresponds to the general character of this quartet -the night- as a certain melancholy humanism can state it_cc781905-5cde-3194-bb3b -136bad5cf58d_: “ I am devoid of faith and therefore cannot be happy, because a man who risks fearing that his life will be a senseless wandering towards certain death cannot be happy. I have inherited neither god nor fixed point on earth from which I can attract the attention of a god; nor have I been inherited the well-disguised fury of the skeptic, the Sioux wiles of the rationalist, or the ardent candor of the atheist. So I dare not throw stones either at those who believe in things that only inspire doubt in me, or at those who cultivate their doubts as if they too were not surrounded by darkness. This stone would reach me myself because I am quite certain of one thing : the need for consolation that human beings know is impossible to satiate »
Stig Dagerman : Our need for consolation is impossible to satisfy – Éditions Actes Sud
The 1st movement : the night stirs -of a vehement nature- is the musical illustration of the texts by Henri Michaux grouped under this name (theme of drugs, nightmares, but also joy the craziest... Duration : approx. 6'
“ All of a sudden the tile in the peaceful room shows a stain.
The comforter at this time has a cry, a cry and a jump ; then the blood flows. The sheets get wet, everything gets wet.
The cabinet opens violently ; a dead man comes out and falls down ; Of course, this is not pleasant.
But it's a pleasure to hit a weasel. Well, then you have to nail her to a piano. It absolutely must. Then we leave. We could also nail it to a vase. But it's difficult. The vase does not resist it. It's difficult. That's a shame.
One flap overwhelms the other and does not let go. The wardrobe door closed.
We fled then, we are thousands to flee On all sides, swimming ; on was so many !
Star of white bodies, which always radiates, radiates…”
Henri Michaux : The night stirs (1st text) – Éditions Gallimard