Philippe Hersant 1966 for Jean-Pierre Drouet
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WORLD of PERCUSSION Mantovani • Stroppa Eötvös • Leibowitz Hersant • Risset Thierry Miroglio Solo percussion World of Percussion Auras for metallic percussion and most significant and influential personalities on the music Mantovani • Stroppa • Eötvös • Leibowitz • Hersant • Risset chamber electronics (1995, rev. 2004) scene as both an internationally recognised conductor from The enormous room, a cycle of works and a composer of successful operas, orchestral works Bruno Mantovani (b. 1974) major rôle in the work’s composition, particularly in the for solo instrument and chamber electronics and concertos, written for well-known artists from all over sections in granular synthesis (a method akin to sampling the world. Eötvös attaches great importance to passing Bruno Mantovani was born in Châtillon, Paris, in 1974. He utilising tiny fragments – or grains – of sound). Aura: according to the Greco-Latin tradition, a breath of on his extensive knowledge and experiences to others. went on to study at the Paris Conservatory, where he was The work is dedicated to Philippe Hurel. air and, according to Buddhism, the magnetic field He taught at the music college in Cologne and Karlsruhe awarded no fewer than five first prizes. After attending the surrounding the human body. and gives regular masterclasses and seminars computer music Cursus at L’Institut de Recherche et Notes compiled from material throughout Europe. He established his International Coordination Acoustique/Musique in Paris (IRCAM), he provided by Bruno Mantovani Auras is the first work of the cycle The enormous room, in Eötvös Institute in 1991 and the Eötvös Contemporary embarked upon a brilliant international career. His plaudits which the self-coined notion of ‘chamber electronics’ is Music Foundation in 2004 in Budapest for young and awards have been many, and his works have been explored and a poetic and intimate relationship between an composers and conductors. In addition to the rôles listed performed at prestigious international venues including Marco Stroppa (b. 1959) acoustic instrument and other invisible beings (the above, Peter Eötvös regularly appears as a guest Carnegie Hall, New York, La Scala, Milan and the electronics) is imagined. conductor with some of the most important orchestras and Concertgebouw, Amsterdam. Mantovani has collaborated Composer, researcher and teacher Marco Stroppa was Comprising an introduction and six connected opera houses. with a long list of renowned soloists, conductors, born in Verona and studied music in Italy (piano, choral movements, Auras examines some of the dreamy and ensembles and orchestras, counting among their number music and conducting, composition and electronic music) ceremonial aspects of percussion. Only metal instruments Thunder for bass timpano (1995) Pierre Boulez, Andrew Davies, Laurence Equilbey and before pursuing further studies at the MIT’s Media are used; either hanging or resting on a frame (vibraphone) François-Xavier Roth, Accentus and Intercontemporain Laboratory in computer science, cognitive psychology or two kettle drums, used as a resonating box, and varied There are certain instruments – some of which have been and the WDR Cologne, Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, and artificial intelligence.) Between 1980 and 1984 he according to the movement of the pedal. The electronics, present in an orchestral line-up for centuries – which so Sinfonia Varsovia and the RAI National Symphony worked at the Centre for Computational Sonology at discrete and sometimes almost imperceptible, create an far have not had a chance to shine in a solo rôle. One Orchestra, Turin. He has been the principal of the Paris Padova University, where he wrote Traiettoria, a large additional ‘halo’ suspended around the instruments and the such instrument is the Timpano, or kettle drum. Due to its Conservatory since September 2010. work for piano and electronics, which immediately met musician. This musical halo is not autonomous, but rather unique tone, produced by resonance, this instrument is with considerable success and continues to be performed expands the instrumental colour without contradicting it. usually employed to provide stability and grounding, as Le Grand Jeu for percussion and electronics (1999) regularly. In 1982 he was invited by Pierre Boulez to join Auras does not pretend to forge a clear path, but well as suggesting danger in louder passages, and to IRCAM (Paris), and his uninterrupted association with the instead creates a changing atmosphere; it does not imply space and distance in other places. This work juxtaposes seven different sections, unified by Institute has been crucial for his musical growth. A highly impose, but lets itself be heard; it does not generate any There are several reasons for this under-utilisation as a certain recurring sound colours (such as low tessitura respected pedagogue, Stroppa founded the composition abstract figures, but rather reflect the colours and solo instrument. One of them is mechanical – early timpani sound streams and diversely transformed conga patterns), course at the Bartók Festival in Hungary, where he taught sentiments of the metals that make up the instruments, were only able to play at a single pitch and although and by easily recognisable articulations such as run-ups for 13 years. Since 1999 he has taught composition at the symbols of the ancestral relationship with Earth, the planet transposition was possible it was relatively complicated and and projections. Throughout the piece, the dialogue Musik Hochschule, Stuttgart, and has also taught at the which welcomed us, but which we are unable to respect. took too long. The 1870s saw the evolution of the pedal oscillates between a writing style inspired by the electronic Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique, Paris. His Auras was commissioned by the French government timpani, which allowed the player to change pitches faster universe, (characterised by abrupt and unforeseeable first opera Re Orso (King Bear), was premièred with great and is dedicated to Thierry Miroglio. and more accurately, to within an octave. dynamics), and references to popular music such as funk success in May 2012 at the Opéra Comique (Paris). Thunder, for one bass timpano, was composed to and techno. These startlingly identifiable nuances mark Marco Stroppa exploit the potential of the pedal timpano and the title the dramatic climaxes of the work. indicates the nature of the piece. Whilst in a symphony The electronic sound palette has been diversified by orchestra there can be anything from two to ten kettle the use of varied techniques, ranging from the editing of Peter Eötvös (b. 1944) drums, Thunder is unique in its quest to explore the solo prerecorded elements and the transformation of sounds potential of the timpano. using different software to frequency modulation during Composer, conductor, teacher, the Hungarian Peter Thunder is dedicated to Isao Nakamura. the sound mixing process and the clarification of the Eötvös combines all three functions in one very high- sound colours. The SuperCollider software played a profile career. He has long been considered one of the Peter Eötvös René Leibowitz (1913-1972) Trois petites études for timbales (2010) Nature contre Nature: Four rhythmic exercises slower than the initial tempo. In the fourth exercise, the for percussion and computer (1996-2005) computer pursues accelerations toward chaos, with a René Leibowitz was a French composer, conductor, Each of these three Études is written on one musical motif tribute to Xenakis’ stochastic forms and Ligeti’s delirious music theorist and teacher. After studying composition inspired by Goethe’s Faust. In this work dedicated to Thierry Miroglio, the machines. The soloist takes part in this wild chase and and orchestration with Maurice Ravel, he was introduced The first Étude is based on Le roi de Thulé (The King percussionist plays in dialogue with sounds generated by concludes the work with his own cadenza. to Arnold Schoenberg’s twelve-note technique by E.I. of Thulé), from Hector Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust. a computer. The computer gives examples of paradoxical Auditory illusions seem to run counter to the physical Kahn before going on to study with Anton Webern. He The second Étude, Marguerite au rouet, is based on rhythmic processes, which incite the performer to nature of sound; they reveal the nature of auditory was an historically important figure, significant in Gretchen am spinnrade (Marguerite at the Spinning Wheel) exercise his skill to do the same. perception – nature against nature. Rhythm is not mere promoting serialism, Schoenberg’s twelve-tone method of by Franz Schubert. The first exercise induces rhythmic variations by chronometry. The unusual rhythmic processes heard here composition, and the ‘New Music’ in France, writing The third Étude is based on the Soldier’s Chorus acting upon the content of the sounds rather than upon have been explored by the composer and also by the several books including Schoenberg and his School and ‘Gloire immortelle de nos aïeux’ (Immortal Glory of our the time itself: intensity, pitch or timbral differences give researchers Wessel, Van Noorden, Knowlton, Bregman organizing and conducting numerous concerts. Forefathers) by Charles Gounod. rise to melodic fissions or breaks which create ‘illusory’ and Arom. The computer sounds have been synthesised These pieces were commissioned by the Darius rhythmic figures – a process illustrated by Ligeti in the or processed with the MusicV