Gilles Gobeil’s
body of work to date has been characterized by a rupture or break æsthetics,
in which large-scale musical gestures are developed and brought to their acme
before being immediately crushed into silence. It is a musical way of being,
of breathing, a natural mark, a style, immediately identifiable and thus much
more than a habit. The Trilogie
d’ondes is testimony to this approach, so deeply rooted in the
composer’s musical thought.
The ondes Martenot’s electronic timbre and acoustic resonance are
perfectly suited to the musical fabric of the electroacoustic tape part,
turning it into a rich and complex mixed work. In places the instrument melds
almost perfectly with the tape, while in others the ondes stand out from the
sonic material, due either to the expressive quality of some melodic
interventions or the contrast between the ethereal quality of the timbre and
the colorful complexity of the tape sounds. In this case, Gilles Gobeil has
chosen to rely mostly on the musician’s expressive accuracy in addition
to virtuosity.
Among the various contributions from the ondes, two themes stand out and
underpin the entire structure: the “wrench theme,” which is
always tightly woven into the tape and manifests itself through a long rising
glissando, and the “cell theme” — or “soul
theme” —, a cell consisting of four neighboring, distempered
notes.
Voix blanche
The wrench theme, with its slow dramatic build-up, appears at the very
beginning of this movement. Halfway through, the soul theme emerges, very
legato. Following its long unfolding, it will be reintroduced in a form that
is more spelled-out than linear, a form which will become definitive in the
other two parts of the trilogy. Inhabited by a subtle form of poetry, this is
the most lyrical movement of the cycle.
Là où vont les
nuages…
This movement features a different technique. The ondes are almost always
used as a trigger for prerecorded sound elements that are juxtaposed with the
ondist’s playing. Through the ondes’ various interventions, the
aforementioned themes are transformed into something more closely related to
a sense of traveling. This movement is full of vitality and playfulness; at
times, sound masses are built and taken down at vertiginous speed.
La perle et
l’oubli
Inspired by an apocryphal initiatory text from the second century, this piece
consists of twelve sequences, six of which are variations on the “soul
theme” cell played by the ondes. In this movement, the ondes play the
part of the soul in its journey of incarnation. The final coda brings back
the wrench and soul themes. The latter, modified one last time, closes the
work in the bass register; its missing fourth note seems to irradiate from
the dark aura of the last note played.
Maurice Martenot
(1898-1980), a trained cellist and radiotelegrapher for the French army
during World War I (1914-18), fell under the spell of the mobile and very
pure electronic vibration of the new triode lamps he was working with.
Following the example of several other scientists at the time, including
Lee de Forest
(1873-1961), the inventor of the triode lamp to be used in the Audion, his
instrument from 1915, the German researcher Jorg
Mager, the Russian Leon Theremin (Lev
Sergeyevich Termen, 1896-1993) and his eponymous instrument (in 1917), and
Friedrich
Trautwein (1988-1956) and his Trautonium (1930), which Paul Hindemith
(1895-1963) would compose for, Maurice Martenot
bustles about this electronic sound that has been newly brought into the
world. He is trying to harness it to a true musical instrument, one that
would cater to a musician’s most subtle expressive intentions.
Until his death in 1980, Maurice Martenot
tirelessly endeavoured to improve his ondes. And what a long way he went,
from the first prototype in 1928, with its remote playing similar to the
Theremin’s, to the current transistorized version! Through these
transformations, the ever monophonic instrument would gain acoustic
resonators and two playing modes: one using a finger ring that allows
countless glissandi options and the other using a keyboard, allowing for
increased virtuosity. The right hand determines the pitches and vibrato,
while the left shapes the nuances, attacks and phrasings with the help of a
key, and controls the timbre tabs.
More electronic instruments have been invented since and are now
omnipresent in our musical universe. Because of its sensory approach closely
linked to the performer’s nervous system and its flexibility that
allows it to respond to the performer’s slightest musical intention,
the Martenot remains unlike any other. It is often considered a forerunner of
today’s electronic instruments, but it is actually somewhat of a
slightly eccentric colleague: the rationale behind its creation keeps it
closer to the great instrument-making tradition. That is probably why it made
it through the 20th century and is still being included in new compositions.
Thanks to its 80-year history and large and rich repertoire, the Martenot has
obviously secured itself a spot in music history.
I would like to thank Gilles Gobeil for his
Trilogie
d’ondes, an inspired and magnificent work that expands the
repertoire of the ondes Martenot and also contributes to the distinctive
color of our homegrown electroacoustic music. I am also grateful to the
Canada Council for the Arts for its financial support.