1. Das Wort (The Word)
2. Prière (Pray)
3. Hymne (Hymn)
Poems from Marilène Meckler and Jean-Baptiste Robin

These three pieces were composed in the spring of 2020 during the first Lockdown of the French population in the face of the spread of the coronavirus.
This exceptional context was an unexpected link with the subject of the commission of the work: War, uncertainty, the union of peoples and the freedom regained in the aftermath of the Second World War.
It is therefore here both the crisis of 1939-45 which is expressed, but also, through its feelings, that of 2020. The unpublished texts alternate French and German, and illustrate the reunion of these two countries after the conflict ...

Composed on the request of the orchestra of the Pays de Savoie, this piece presents two very distinct ideas: the time and the human. The first element is a brief unchanging rhythmic tick-tock, in string pizzicato, which evokes a spinning star. The second element is a melody in long values in the low range of the strings (cellos) which gradually goes towards the high range (violins). This long ascending line is a human prayer directed to the heaven. The two ideas are in opposition and then overlap, as if the celestial body and the human being were trying to touch and unite. The oboe then appears, which takes up the idea of a prayer but with joy.
After this first arc, the theme of time is significantly developed and then spreads to all the instruments of the orchestra with a much more dancing rhythm. Time becomes more human until the appearance of oboes in long values. The elements come together again and more intensely than the first time.

Time, in this piece for large orchestra, is a character in its own right. Present from the beginning to the end of the work, time takes the form of a tick-tock (tic-tac) and circulates between all the instruments. After a brief and energetic introduction, the ticking appears for the first time on the percussion, more precisely on the temple blocks. This sound motif is constantly developed in the orchestration and surrounds itself with circular musical elements (circular melodies, harmonic balancing, symmetrical modes, etc.), so that the listener feels immersed in the heart of time. Dark, mischievous, ill-tempered, heroic ... the tick-tock takes on different characters and gradually appears as a blade that wounds, leaves scars, that never ceases. At the center of the work, this outburst fades and gives way to brighter lighting: successive solos on celestial sounds entrusted to the clarinet, oboe, flute, and english horn. The piece culminates in a finale of strident and relentless chords that evoke the twenty-four-hour cycle. Time struggles in vain against its collapse before sinking into nothingness.

The tender and nostalgic melody of the beginning of the piece appears in a profoundly peaceful and luminous atmosphere. This single and omnipresent theme, supported by warm harmonies, never stops rising, desperate, until it reaches a poignant climax.
Doors to heavenly music then open, instruments suspended in the high register, while a violin, as a comforting Angel, introduces itself into the dialogue.
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For a long time, I have been fascinated by mechanical clocks. From the large clocks of churches to modern wristwatches, these are objects which measure time and seem to give it life, like the mysterious music of the spheres.
The whirling of a clock's hands is enchanting. It resembles the circular melodies and self-reflecting modes I theorized on years ago and have often used in my works.
The most mechanically complex instrument is probably the organ, and thus it seemed natural for me to associate it with this mechanical universe...

This piece for full orchestra is inspired by Crop Circles: geometric designs that are found in fields worldwide.
The work begins with an orchestral melody heard in a continuous loop - like a crop circle - and a musical mode constructed on a perfectly symmetrical mode. It is directly followed by a second theme, more lyrical, freer and also more human.
The first part gradually becomes more intense, patterns swirl faster and faster, and the tempo accelerates to a breathtaking speed.

The work use reflective modes and chords and each note is related to another one by symmetry.
In order to maintain flexibility and to emerge from this strict structural background, I chose expressive territories distant one from another, but still linked by common thematic elements.
These distances mainly concern tessitura, dynamics and tones , but they are also due to oppositions such as: in focus and blurry, expected and unexpected, static and kinetic, etc.
An example: The dark music, ringing in the lowest registers, with fragile melodies and mournful knell, is later found metamorphosed in the high register and accompanied by delicate bright shades.
The instrumental writing shows the same desire of contrasts. I tried to make this small group of instruments sound in different ways, sometimes as a large orchestra, sometimes as a very small ensemble.