a r t i s t : Guillaume Connesson (Eric Le Sage-Stephane Deneve)
t i t l e : Cosmic Trilogy/The Shining One
d a t e : 2010
l a b e l : Chandos
c a t : CHSA 5076
s o u r c e : CDDA
g e n r e : Avantgarde
r l s. d a t e : Mar/2010
t r a c k s : 07
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 65,4 MB
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Chandos doesnt release many SACDs anymore, so it appeared to
me that this one must be something special though it was all
new to me. French composer Connesson has been compared to
John Adams and Steve Reich, although I found little of the
minimalist in his works. He is attracted to, as the note
booklet states, the infinitely massive.He imagines complex
sonic events occurring in cosmic space, and creates his sound
worlds free of any particular system or school. He regards
his approach as a sort of sound mosaic, with elements
influenced by world and pop music, film scores,
impressionistic harmonies of the French composers, strong
rhythms, and even the heavy experimental orchestral density
of Penderecki. Connessons works are not serialized but
neither are they tonal. Though not mentioned in his
influences, Edgar Varese came to my mind in listening to
these works. Clearly, hi-res multichannel sonics are most
appropriate for these massive explosions of sound.
Connesson was inspired to create his Cosmic Trilogy - the
first three works here - by a reading of Stephen Hawkings A
Short History of Time, and Kandinskys painting Quelques
cercles. Aleph is in math the symbol of the power of
infinity. It begins the Cosmic Trilogy as a symphonic dance
of life and energy. Revealing his connections with pop music,
the composer dubs the opening of Aleph as a wall of sound.
The second work, translated A Glimmer in the Age of Darkness,
is a cosmic pastoral - depicting the slow and gradual birth
of the universe. It has a theme based on an Indian raga,
which makes one think of yet another French composers
influence - Messiaen. The third work - Supernova - distills
Connessons feelings of space and energy with a tragic
portrait of the death of a star.
The nine-minute piano concerto, originally premiered by
pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, seems like a compact little
encore that brings us back to earth from the far outreaches
of space. The orchestra is shrunk to Mozartian size. The
works title refers not to the movie The Shining (which used
several Penderecki pieces on the soundtrack) but to an early
fantasy novel by an American author who was considered
similar to Frances Jules Verne. The story concerns lost
worlds and sunken cities and Connesson attempts to translate
simultaneous feelings of ecstasy and horror into music in the
work. It is in three short continuous movements. These are
premiere recordings of all the works except Supernova. This
SACD will bear many repeat hearings to mine the imaginative
blend of musical strands woven into these works.
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01-Aleph (2007, revised 2009) [08:44]
02-Une lueur dans l'age sombre - cosmique - detendre - [08:07]
calme
03-Une lueur dans l'age sombre - tres lent - tempo i - a [05:30]
peine plus anime - a tempo (1) - plus lent
04-Une lueur dans l'age sombre - a tempo [05:53]
(1) - animer un peu - agite - plus large - animer imper
05-Supernova - i. quelques cercles [08:28]
06-Supernova - ii. pulsating star [06:24]
07-The shining one [09:07]
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52:13 min