a r t i s t : Gerard Grisey
t i t l e : Quatres Chants Pour Franchir Le Seuil
d a t e : 2000
l a b e l : Kairos
g e n r e : Modern Composition
r l s. d a t e : May/2006
t r a c k s : 05
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 54,7 MB
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Klangforum Wien - Sylvain Cambreling
Catherine Dubosc
GΘrard Grisey was the foremost exponent of what is generally
referred to as 'French spectral music', which has also
attracted some composers from other countries as well, albeit
briefly, such as Gilles Tremblay, Magnus Lindberg and Kaija
Saariaho to name but a few. In his earlier pieces such as
PΘriodes (1974) and Partiels (1975) which became part of his
huge cycle Les espaces acoustiques (1974 û 1985), his music
was fairly radical in its approach to sound of which noise was
also seen as an important component. However, in his later
music, some new traits became more evident including a liking
for lush harmonies and for expression, such as in the closing
piece of Les espaces acoustiques, the brilliant Epilogue
(1985) scored for large orchestra or the very fine Le temps et
lÆΘcume, so that the new-found expressivity of Quatre chants
is no surprise at all, but rather the logical outcome at this
stage of GriseyÆs musical progress.
Quatre chants pour franchir le seuil, completed in 1998, is
GriseyÆs last major work before his untimely death. He
actually did not live long enough to hear the pieceÆs first
performance in London in 1999. Let it be said straightaway,
this is a beautiful piece for soprano and large ensemble
setting various texts, old and new, encompassing a wide range
of cultural backgrounds: old Egyptian superscriptions, a
fragment by the Greek poetess Erinna (ca. 350 BC), a fragment
from the Babylonian epos Gilgamesh and a poem by the French
writer Christian Guez Ricordi with whom Grisey had previously
collaborated. However Grisey succeeds in welding these
different materials into one musically satisfying whole by use
of some recurring gestures such as the delicately rustling
sounds with which the piece opens and which later serve as
bridges between the various sections. The prelude La mort de
lÆange, on a short poem by Guez Ricordi, opens with these
softly rustling sounds. The orchestra then states a descending
motif supporting the soprano who at first sings somewhat
hesitantly before becoming more impassioned. At some points,
over long-held notes, the soprano is doubled by the trumpet to
stunning effect. The first song ends in an appeased mood.
There follows Interlude I: La mort de la civilisation on
fragments of Egyptian superscriptions delivered in a rather
matter-of-fact, distant, almost clinical manner supported by a
sparse scoring. Interlude II: La mort de la voix, on lines by
Erinna, is more lyrical, with long lines in the voice part and
the orchestra as well. The Faux interlude: La mort de
lÆhumanitΘ, on fragments from Gilgamesh, first depicts the
deluge and then evokes the peacefulness and beauty of the
Earth after the cataclysm. The first half of this section has
more dramatic gestures but the movement ends in utter
peacefulness. So far, the music has been dark-hued, the
scoring favouring bass instruments. In the final Berceuse, the
music enters a more tranquil mood, of acceptance and of
regained hope. "It is the music of a humanity finally
liberated from its nightmare ... it is a lullaby not to make
one fall asleep but to awaken" (GΘrard Grisey). It is of
course easy retrospectively to consider this wonderful work as
GriseyÆs testament, but whatever the personal context in which
it was written, it deals with timeless, universal human
issues. As such Quatre chants pour franchir le seuil is a
deeply moving masterpiece.
I warmly recommend the present release. Catherine Dubosc and
Klangforum Wien superbly rise to the occasion and deliver a
carefully prepared, committed reading which, I hope, will earn
the piece and its composer many new friends.
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01-prΘlude i. la mort de l'ange [12:40]
02-interlude ii. la mort de la civilisation [07:05]
03-interlude iii. la mort de la voix [04:38]
04-faux interlude iv. la mort de l'humanitΘ [12:50]
05-berceuse [04:19]
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41:32 min