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Jean-Baptiste ROBIN
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Catalogues :
Instrumental music - Chamber music - Orchestral music - Vocal music - Others - Complete listing of works
12 Etudes op.45 "Cities"for piano
Instrumentation : Piano
Composition​ : 2020-2023
Commission : Commission from the Fondation BP, Sacem, Proarti, Agglomération VGP and Association Alain Marinaro.
Duration​ : 31 mn
First performance : 2023
Publisher : Gérard Billaudot
1. Manhattan Rises (1 mn 20 s)
2. Perpetual (1 mn 30 s)
3. Lanternes célestes (4 mn env.)
4. Capoeira (1 mn 40 s)
5. Après les ruines (3 mn env.)
6. Les grandes eaux de Versailles (2 mn 20 s env.)
7. Jubilee (3 mn env.)
8. La cité engloutie (4 mn env.)
9. Le phare du Bout du Monde (2 mn 20 s env.)
10. Intersections / Crossroads (1 mn 45 s)
11. Der Nebel von Lübeck (3 mn 45 s)
12. Shinjuku Density (2 mn 25 s env.)
Dedications : Alissa Zoubritski, Béatrice Berrut, Emmanuelle Swiercz-Lamour, Aude Morales-Robin, Véra Tsybakov, Etsuko Hirose, Jean-Paul Gasparian, Tristan Pfaff, Romain Hervé, Gaspard Dehaene, Jean Nadrigny, Romain Descharmes.
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Listen to the 12 études: Playlist
La Destruction du temps / The destruction of the Timefor organ
Instrumentation : Organ
Composition​ : 2020
Commission : Radio France
Duration​ : 9'30 mn
First performance : Radio France Concert Hall, April 4th, 2023 by Maurice Clément, organ
Publisher : Gérard Billaudot
In this work, the organist is in front of his instrument as if he were facing a large clock or a chime. Countless ticks ring continuously, and their expressions, tones and colors are abundantly diverse. Some sound sweet and mysterious like a watch, and others are powerful and relentless like bells. Pascal said from time that man is a lost point between two infinities. It is here the organist - and through him the listener - who places himself in this immensity. A lyrical and carnal theme, like a song of the soul, makes it possible to express all of humanity and the sensitivity of the performer who is then faced with the organ as man is faced with time.
Time and theme unfold first of all in the vastness of space. They then become attached to the agitation of the human world where man believes he is himself, but in reality he flees and only agitates from the void. It is finally an epic struggle between the two themes where the bells triumph. It is not man who stops time, it is time which stops man.
24 etudes (easy)for trumpet
Instrumentation : Trumpet
Composition​ : 2020
Duration​ : 20 mn
Publisher : Gérard Billaudot
24 études for trumpet
Easy to intermediate
1. En quelques secondes 2. Sur un même thème 3. Légende 4. Sinfonia 5. Constellation 6. Cantabile 7. Décollage 8.Tierce poursuite 9.Le chant du désert 10. La casa de la castañeta 11. Souffle 12. Vers la lumière 13. Interstice 14. Quartes à jouer 15. Complainte 16. Dans le style de Beethoven 17. Détaché double 18. Autour d’une même note 19. Interstice 2 20. De quinte en quinte 21. Détaché triple 22. Romance et scherzando 23.Couleurs 24. Poursuite
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Chant du Ténéré / Song of Ténéréfor organ
Instrumentation : Organ
Composition​ : 2019
Commission : Sylvanès Abbey (France)
Duration​ : 5 mn
First performance : Slyvanès Abbey, June 8, 2019 by Henri-Franck Beaupérin, organ
Publisher : Gérard Billaudot
This work is a part of "Le Tombeau de Jean-Louis Florentz".
This is the song of a solitary tree.
The "Tree of Ténéré" was a living legend in Africa until 1973. Standing alone, isolated in the middle of one of the most forbidding regions of the Sahara desert, this solitary acacia was the only tree to have survived in such extreme climatic conditions for miles around.
"Chant du Ténéré" (Song of Ténéré) is a manner of paying tribute to fellow-composer Jean-Louis Florentz...
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Click Timefor saxophone
Instrumentation : saxophone alto solo
Composition​ : 2019
Commission : for Nicolas Prost (Saxiana)
Duration​ : 2 mn 30 s
First performance : Troyes cathedral, June 28, 2019
Publisher : Gérard Billaudot
This short piece for saxophone can be performed in concert or by graduate students. The adopted tempo and certain modes of play will evolve according to the level of each performer.
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The Hands of Timefor organ
Instrumentation : Organ
Composition​ : 2018
Commission : the American Guild of Organists for the Biennal National Convention in Kansas City, 2018
Duration​ : 11 mn
First performance : Kansas City, July 5, 2018. Todd Wilson, organ, National Convention of the American Guild of Organists.
Publisher : Gérard Billaudot GB9984
For thousands of years, mankind has sought ways to measure and master time. Since Antiquity observable natural phenomena such as the changing length and direction of shadows or the regular cycle of the moon have been used to measure the passage of time. Today time can be measured with the greatest accuracy and various devices make it more « tangible »
In music, the basic unit of time - the beat - conveys an almost palpable, physical energy, like the oscillations of the pendulum of a clock whose ticking puts an end to silence. In The Hands of Time, the organist's hands recreate the delicate, constant movement of the hands of a clock and the subtle, perpetual dance of the heavenly bodies among the stars. This almost palpable connection is a preamble to the poetic dimension of the piece.
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Bagatelle / Bagatelfor cello solo
Instrumentation : Cello solo
Composition​ : 2017
Commission : Banque Populaire Foundation
Duration​ : 6 mn 30 s
First performance : Orangerie de Bagatelle (Paris), May 27, 2017. First performance by François Salque.
Publisher : Gérard Billaudot
Regard vers Agartha / A Look towards Agarthafor 4 hands organ
Instrumentation : Great Organ
Composition​ : 2014
Commission : Orgelsommer in Saint-Leodegar in Luzern 2014
Duration​ : 6 mn 30 s
First performance : July 29, 2014, Saint-Leodegar Cathedral in Luzern (CH) by Béatrice Piertot and Yannick Merlin
Publisher : Le Chant du Monde (available at the end of 2017)
Agartha is a legendary kingdom that would be connected to the five continents through an extensive network of tunnels and underground tunnels. This belief is found in Antiquity. According to legend, there would still be large portions of these galleries, the others having been destroyed by geological shifts. The mystery remains.
Indian's Rockfor harpsichord
Instrumentation : for harpsichord (french baroque) or piano
Composition​ : 2014
Duration​ : 3 mn
Publisher : Unpublished
Indian Rock pays tribute to the famous harpsichord piece by Jean-Philippe Rameau (1686-1764), "Les Sauvages", published in the third book of 1728. Rameau reuses this dance in 1736 in his opera-ballet "Les Indes Galantes" and Jean-François Tapray (1738-1819) composes later remarkable variations on this work.
On the occasion of the 2014 Rameau year, I wanted to use this emblematic musical theme of the 18th century and immerse it in a world of today.
The work uses and develops each motif of the theme in various climates, alternately tormented, dreamlike and joyful. Only to the extent that a new "hyper-savage" and almost tribal figure appears. This motif will be superimposed on Rameau's theme and plunge him into an almost heavy-metal electric universe (a wild style of today's music).
This piece was conceived for French-style harpsichords, but it can be performed on different types of instruments such as pianoforte or piano (it is then necessary to imagine nuances). The writing is respectful of the old instruments and can be treated with all the sophistication of touch that one brings to an old work.
Cinq versets sur le Veni Creator / Five Verses on the Veni CreatorGreat Organ
Instrumentation : Great Organ
Composition​ : 2012
Commission : Association Renaissance des grandes orgues de Saint-Remi in Reims
Duration​ : 17 mn
First performance : Saint-Remi Basilica in Reims, September 23, 2012
Publisher : Gérard Billaudot
The five verses composed here constantly employ the original melody of Veni Creator, either in fragmentation, or as long musical phrases. The original plainchant permeates the entirety of this work, even if the musical language and universe are personal creations. This is a Christian, poetic and spiritual work, the music is constantly figuring the text, reminiscent of some baroque composer's way of writing.
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Trois Solos / Three Solosfor organ
Instrumentation : for French Baroque Organ and others
Composition​ : 2011
Commission : Association Francois-Henri Clicquot
Duration​ : 12 mn 30 s
First performance : Dresden Hofkirche (G) June 29, 2011 by Frédéric Champion, Poitiers Cathedral on September 24, 2011 by the composer
Publisher : Gérard Billaudot
These Three Solos require neither a page turner nor a registrant and are of intermediate technical difficulty. Although conceived for a French classical organ of mesotonic temperament, they can equally well be played on instruments of different style and temperament (German baroque organ, Symphonic organ, etc.). It is important that the acoustics of the performance venue be quite resonant.
First performances: Dresden Cathedral (G), June 29, 2011 by Frédéric Champion, Poitiers Cathedral, September 24, 2011 and Pensacola (Florida), October 23, 2011 (J.-B. Robin), Grand Séminaire de Montréal, October 30, 2011 (J. Korndörfer), Chapelle royale du château de Versailles, December 17, 2011 (JBR), Saint-Donat, July 16, 2012 by Vincent Warnier.
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Cercles Réfléchissants / Reflecting CirclesGreat Organ
Instrumentation : Symphonic Great Organ
Composition​ : 2007-2008
Commission : Fondation Marcelle and Robert de Lacour, Lawrence University (Nicholas Bideler), Nontron Association
Duration​ : 31 mn 30 s
First performance : Nontron - Notre-Dame des Ronces (F), Bales Organ Recital Hall (Lawrence, USA), House of Hope (Minneapolis/St Paul, USA), Nantes -Eglise St Nicolas (F)
Publisher : Gérard Billaudot
This work revolves around a central piece entitled Reflecting Circles, the nucleus of the work, which employs a compositional technique of almost absolute rigor in regards to the pitch of the notes. Each note is linked to another via melodic symmetry, either modal or harmonic.
Six other movements are arranged in symmetry around this piece, each being linked to another, using the « reflecting » compositional technique in a more suggestive manner.
1. Cercles de Danses [8'50]
2. Cercles de Vent [4'10]
3. Trait d'union 1 [1'50]
4. Cercles Réfléchissants [3'30]
5. Trait d'union 2 [1'10]
6. Cercles Harmoniques [6'50]
7. Cercles Lointains [5'10]
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L'enfant, le cercle et le vent / The Child, the Circle and the Windfor piano solo
Instrumentation : piano solo
Composition​ : 2008
Duration​ : 6 mn 30 s
First performance : Romain Hervé, October 12, 2008, Auditorium in Alençon - Cour Carrée de la Dentelle (F)
Publisher : SheetMusicPlus
This work is a dialogue between two themes: the "Circle" and "the Child". The Wind is itself evoked by the breath of the dynamic start of the work and by the delicate breezes of the end.
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Trois Eléments d'un songe / Three Elements of a Dreamfor Great Organ
Instrumentation : Great Symphonic Organ
Composition​ : 2004
Duration​ : 11 mn 30 s
First performance : January 24, 2005 during the "Journées de l'orgue contemporain" at the CNSM in Paris (F)
Publisher : Gérard Billaudot (Ref: GB8221)
ERRATA in the score :
- page 6, mes. 14
- page 8, mes. 19-21
- page 9, mes. 37: registrations indication, cancel Réc. and write Pos.
- page 15, mes. 89: pedal, play D and no F
- page 20, mes. 30-32: change F clef on left hand staff by G clef.
Three movements:
1-Frontispice
2-Souffle
3-Crépusculaire Twilight
Three Elements of a Dream is based on two simple musical ideas: three intervals and a twilight harmony which is introductory and conclusive (first chord of Crépusculaire). The poetic frame of the work comes from these elements, and the first two movements are like an anacrusis to the last piece which is deeply peaceful.
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Falaises, miroir de lune / Cliffs, Moon Mirrorfor piano solo
Instrumentation : piano solo
Composition​ : 2003 (revision in 2006)
Duration​ : 6 mn 30 s
First performance : Aude Morales on April 30, 2004 at the CNSMDP
Publisher : Gérard Billaudot
The work begins with the exposure of three ideas: a contemplative melodic theme (illuminated by delicate high notes that evoke a night light), a harmonic theme (in the form of enveloping chords recalling the resonances of a gong) and a dancing rhythm and discontinuous theme, increasingly ubiquitous.
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Regard vers l'Aïr / A Look towards the Aïrfor Organ
Instrumentation : Great Organ (baroque, neoclassical, symphonic)
Composition​ : 2001
Duration​ : 10 mn 30 s
First performance : September 26, 2002, Sainte-Croix de Bordeaux - August 17, 2003, Soissons Cathedral - December 7, 2003, Nantes Cathedral
Publisher : Gérard Billaudot (Ref: GB8222)
Errata: bar 19, the last B of the bar is flat (the B before the C flat).
Contradictory to the title, this piece aspires in no particular way to portray the Aïr Mountains of Niger. The title is merely an invitation to a musical and imaginary journey, largely inspired by the imposing harmonic landscapes of this work's final pages. As the work unfolds, two opposing themes develop, the first getting shorter while the second lengthens. This thematic development unifies a succession of very different atmospheres such as the never-ending knell heard clearly in the opening of the piece, the Asiatic mode arabesques, or the two echoing melodies that bring to mind two children playing chase. The work also brings out several unusual colors of the organ using harmonic stops (Nasard and Tierce), musical evocations of wind and ocean waves.
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