Robert Normandeau: Puzzles: track detail

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Puzzles
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1. Puzzle (2003) 5m40s imed_0575-1.1 | 14027 | ISRC CAD500518340

Commission: Open Space Arts Society

Premiere: October 9, 2003, Open Space (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada)

MP3 Real

16-track tape

Adapted from the music composed for the play Farces conjugales by Georges Feydeau, staged by Brigitte Haentjens, at Théâtre du Rideau Vert (Montréal) in March 2003.

This music has been composed, as its title suggests, as a succession of small pieces made to fit with one another. But unlike the traditional game, here the pieces of music can be organized in any order. In other words, in regards to the temporal and timbral aspects, the sonorities used have been tuned in such a way that they can be superimposed or juxtaposed in a thousand different ways. The version presented here is only one of the multiple possible versions. The sound sources consist of door sounds and vocal onomatopoeias.

[xii-04]

Puzzle was realized in 2003 at the composer’s studio and premiered on October 9, 2003 at the Open Space, Victoria (Canada). Puzzle was commissioned by the Open Space Arts Society.

2. Éden (2003) 16m21s imed_0575-1.2 | 14030 | ISRC CAD500518350

Commission: GMEM

Premiere: May 12, 2003, Les musiques 2003 (Marseille, France)

MP3 Real

16-track tape

Adapted from the music composed for the play L’Éden cinéma by Marguerite Duras, staged by Brigitte Haentjens at the National Arts Centre (Ottawa), and at Festival de théâtre des Amériques (Montréal), in May 2003.

The stage and the concert musics were composed in parallel, as if they were parts of the same fiction but corresponded to different purposes. Duras’ play contains over eighty indications about when and how music should be used. The only way to fulfil these indications, according to me, was to have the music played continuously during the play. So I imagined music made of very long sound loops over which very little happens, some sound events disseminated here and there over time and space. In the concert version, extra elements are added to the loops, representing the different aspects of the sonic universe of the play — Vietnam, where Marguerite Duras was born and raised until her teens, the Éden Cinema’s piano, some evanescent atmospheres, the gramophone — that evoke, thanks to the omnipresence of rhythm, the road, the journey, the departure.

[xii-04]

Éden was realized in 2003 at the composer’s studio and premiered on May 12, 2003 during the Les musiques 2003 festival in Marseille (France). The current version was completely revised in the fall of 2003 at the composer’s studio and premiered on November 27, 2003 at the Royal Academy of Music, Århus (Denmark). Éden was commissioned by the Groupe de musique expérimentale de Marseille (GMEM). The music quoted at the beginning is a Laotian Song that appears on the disc India Song et autres musiques de films, that composer Carlos D’Alessio wrote for Marguerite Duras released by Le Chant du Monde (LDX 274818).

Chorus (2002) 14m00s imed_0575-1.3 | 14031 |

Commission: Réseaux des arts médiatiques, with support from the CCA

Premiere: July 13, 2002, Festival de musiques sacrées (Fribourg, Switzerland)

MP3 Real

Ouverture [Overture]; Judaïsme [Judaism]; Christianisme [Christianity]; Islam [Islam]; Confrontation [War]; Douleur [Pain]; Paix [Peace]

16-track tape

To the victims of September 11, 2001

Chorus. Latin word for choir. To sing in chorus, to voice one’s agreement. To chorus.

The music is inspired by the subject of the theatre play Nathan der Weise (“Nathan the Wise”) (1779) by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (Kamnez, Germany, 1729 — Braunschweig, Germany, 1781), which demonstrates the tolerance ideal of the Age of the Enlightenment. The play—staged by Denis Marleau in Palais des Papes (Avignon, France) in 1997 — is based on the Three Rings parabola, which describes a man who is about to die and has to make a difficult choice: who among his three sons will get the ring inherited from a long family tradition. In order not to have to make this choice, the father decides to have three rings made out of the first, a proof of his love for his sons. “If it is not given to mankind to theoretically know which religion is the true one, everyone has the practical possibility, by his selfless actions toward others, to prove the value of his faith and his aptitude to contribute to the happiness of humanity.”

The sound material used in the work represents the typical sonorities of the three monotheist religions: the shofar of Judaism, the church bells of Christianity and the call for prayer of Islam. To these sounds, I have added the treated voices of two actors, Gregory Hlady and Évelyne Rompré, used in the music of the play Antigone by Sophocles (staged by Brigitte Haentjens at the Théâtre du Trident, Quebec City, in 2002).

December 2004 [v-06]

Chorus was realized in 2002 at the composer’s studio and premiered on July 13, 2002 during the Festival de musiques sacrées (Fribourg, Switzerland). Chorus was commissioned by Réseaux with the financial support of the Canada Council for the Arts. Chorus was awarded the First Prize at the 2002 Fribourg International Sacred Music Competition (Switzerland). Chorus was also selected by the 2nd Métamorphoses Biennial Acousmatic Composition Competition (Brussels, Belgium) in 2002 and was recorded in 2003 on the CD Métamorphoses 2002, M&R (MR 2002).

3. Ouverture (2002) 2m00s imed_0575-1.3.3 | 14032 | ISRC CAD500518360

4. Judaïsme (2002) 2m01s imed_0575-1.3.4 | 14033 | ISRC CAD500518370

5. Christianisme (2002) 1m18s imed_0575-1.3.5 | 14034 | ISRC CAD500518380

6. Islam (2002) 1m44s imed_0575-1.3.6 | 14035 | ISRC CAD500518390

7. Confrontation (2002) 1m20s imed_0575-1.3.7 | 14036 | ISRC CAD500518400

8. Douleur (2002) 1m55s imed_0575-1.3.8 | 14037 | ISRC CAD500518410

9. Paix (2002) 3m40s imed_0575-1.3.9 | 14038 | ISRC CAD500518420

10. StrinGDberg (2001-03) 18m20s imed_0575-1.10 | 14028 | ISRC CAD500518430

Commission: Ina-GRM

Premiere: June 1, 2001, Salle Olivier Messiaen — Maison de Radio France (Paris, France)

MP3 Real

16-track tape

StrinDberg. Adapted from the music composed for the play Miss Julie by August Strindberg (Stockholm, Sweden, January 22, 1849-Stockholm, Sweden, May 14, 1912), staged by Brigitte Haentjens at Espace GO (Montréal) in May 2001.

StrinG. The only sound sources of the piece come from two string instruments, a hurdy-gurdy and a cello. Two instruments representing two eras in the history of instrument factory: the first one belongs to a period where sonorities were rude, closer to the people, and the second one evokes the refinement of the aristocracy.

Actually, the piece is made of two superimposed layers. The first one comes from a single recording of a hurdy-gurdy improvisation about a minute long. Stretched out, filtered, layered, the sound of the hurdy-gurdy, distributed in a multiphonic space, is revealed, layer by layer, throughout the duration of the piece. A second layer, made from the cello, gives the work its rhythm and brings, at the end, a more dramatic quality. It is a deep listening work that penetrates into the sound.

[xii-04]

StrinGDberg was realized in 2001 at the composer’s studio and premiered on June 1, 2001, Salle Olivier Messiaen, Maison de Radio France, (Paris, France). The piece was revised in 2002 and premiered on September 14, 2002 at Espace GO, Montréal (Québec). The final version, completely redesigned in 2003 was premiered on November 27, 2003, at the Royal Academy of Music in Århus (Denmark). StrinGDberg was commissioned by the Groupe de recherches musicales (Ina-GRM), Paris (France). Thanks to Silvy Grenier (hurdy-gurdy) and James Darling (cello).

11. Hamlet-Machine with Actors (2003) 15m58s imed_0575-1.11 | 14029 | ISRC CAD500518440

Commission: VNMS

Premiere: October 11, 2003, Scotia Bank Dance Centre (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)

MP3 Real

16-track tape

To Marc Béland

Adapted from the music composed for the play Hamletmachine (1979) by Heiner Müller (1929-1995), staged by Brigitte Haentjens in Montreal in 2001. The actors were Marc Béland, Céline Bonnier, Annie Berthiaume, Louise de Beaumont, Gaétan Nadeau, Line Naud, Guy Triffero, and François Trudel.

The music was omnipresent during the play, one hour and fifteen minutes of music. Around thirty different themes were used. For the concert version, I reworked every sound and recomposed every sequence to produce an autonomous work. For the first time in a while, I used electronic sounds in the piece. And to this musical material I added the sounds made by the actors, as recorded in three documents I shot: two rehearsals — the rehearsal building, as anyone can hear, was located in an industrial neighbourhood — and the show of the first public performance. By doing this, I have the feeling that I preserved not only the musical material of the play, but also its spirit, thanks to the sonorous presence of the actors. The music, like the play, tries to describe the oppression society exerts on Man, the representation of taboos—including sexual taboos—through the show and the end of art.

[xii-04]

Hamlet-Machine with Actors was realized in 2003 at the composer’s studio and premiered on October 11, 2003 at the Scotia Bank Dance Centre, Vancouver (Canada). Hamlet-Machine with Actors was commissioned by Vancouver New Music Society (VNMS). The work was finalist at the 3rd Métamorphoses Biennial Acousmatic Composition Competition (Brussels, Belgium) in 2004.

Robert Normandeau: Puzzles: track detail

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Prices are in Canadian dollars — 1.00 CA$ ~ 0.98 US$ ~ 0.63 € ~ 0.49 £ ~ 1.05 AU$ ~ 102.50 ¥ — and include handling, shipping and applicable taxes.


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