Le voyage d’hiver

The Winter’s Journey
IMED 9945
1999
CD
1 disc
25.00 CAD -20%

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Radio // Le voyage d’hiver
  • piste@imed_9945-1
    • 1
      • Premiere: June 5, 1994, 4e Concours international électro-clip de l’ACREQ, Foufounes électriques (Montréal, Québec)

      This clip celebrates the beginning of the journey. (And by the way, is the title long enough for you?)

      Réponse impressionniste… (Impressionistic answer given by Josef K. to a French tourist walking by the railway station at the end of a winter’s evening) was realized in the composer’s studio in 1994 using sounds produced with the help of the SYTER system at GRM (Paris, France) and outdoor sound samples from Québec. The piece was created for the 4th ACREQ International Électro-clip Competition held in Montréal at the Foufounes électriques on (and in simul-broadcast at Ciné-Bistro in Québec City) on June 5th, 1994, where it won the Public Radio Award.

      piste@imed_9945-1.1 oeuvre@14466 ISRC CAD509900010
    • 2
      Die Winterreise (1997), 42m15s
      • Gute Nacht
      • Die Wetterfahne
      • Gefrorne Tränen
      • Erstarrung
      • Der Lindenbaum
      • Wasserflut
      • Auf dem Flusse
      • Rückblick
      • Irrlicht
      • Rast
      • Frühlingstraum
      • Einsamkeit
      • Die Post
      • Der Greise Kopf
      • Die Krähe
      • Letzte Hoffnung
      • Im Dorfe
      • Der Stürmische Morgen
      • Täuschung
      • Der Wegweiser
      • Das Wirthaus
      • Mut
      • Die Nebensonnen
      • Der Leiermann
      • Coda

      Die Winterreise (The Winter’s Journey) is my most ambitious electroacoustic undertaking to date. Written as a suite of miniatures, this electroacoustic music drama is made up of the 24 poems by the same name written by Wilhelm Müller (1794-1827). They are spoken here by the Montréal actor of German origin, Erwin Potitt. To Müller’s texts I have added a 25th and final miniature, Coda, which concludes my interpretation of the electroacoustic music drama that is Die Winterreise.

      Die Winterreise was realized from 1995 to 1997 in the composer’s studio and in the studio of the Secteur électroacoustique of the Faculté de musique of Université de Montréal.

      piste@imed_9945-1.2 oeuvre@14467 ISRC CAD509900020
      • 2
        Die Winterreise: Gute Nacht (1997), 2m05s

        The drama begins with the first poem, in which the wandering poet leaves the town where he thought he had found love. With irony and affection he writes “Good night” on his lost love’s door.

        piste@imed_9945-1.2.2 oeuvre@14478
      • 3
        Die Winterreise: Die Wetterfahne (1997), 1m42s

        The winter wind plays with the weather vane on the roof of his loved one’s house, just as it has played with the false hearts of those living inside.

        piste@imed_9945-1.2.3 oeuvre@14486 ISRC CAD509900030
      • 4
        Die Winterreise: Gefrorne Tränen (1997), 38s

        The poet’s burning pain gushes out in tears that turn to ice.

        piste@imed_9945-1.2.4 oeuvre@14487 ISRC CAD509900040
      • 5
        Die Winterreise: Erstarrung (1997), 1m08s

        The forsaken lover returns to where he had been happy during the summer to search for the footprints of his lost love in the snow.

        piste@imed_9945-1.2.5 oeuvre@14488 ISRC CAD509900050
      • 6
        Die Winterreise: Der Lindenbaum (1997), 1m21s

        In the blackness of the night, as the traveler passes by a lime tree in whose shade he had often dreamed, he is troubled by a rustling that calls him to rest. He flees without turning around, gripped by an icy terror.

        piste@imed_9945-1.2.6 oeuvre@14489 ISRC CAD509900060
      • 7
        Die Winterreise: Wasserflut (1997), 1m03s

        It seems to the unhappy lover that his tears are mixing with the snow and will form, once the fine weather returns, a stream that will flow past his loved one’s house.

        piste@imed_9945-1.2.7 oeuvre@14490 ISRC CAD509900070
      • 8
        Die Winterreise: Auf dem Flusse (1997), 2m39s

        Seeing his reflection in a frozen river, the poet wonders whether its ice covers a torrent that is surging like the one in his heart.

        piste@imed_9945-1.2.8 oeuvre@14491 ISRC CAD509900080
      • 9
        Die Winterreise: Rückblick (1997), 1m59s

        In his flight, our traveler thinks of happier days. He would like to go back, but this is impossible.

        piste@imed_9945-1.2.9 oeuvre@14492 ISRC CAD509900090
      • 10
        Die Winterreise: Irrlicht (1997), 41s

        As a river finds the sea or sorrow its tomb, a will-o’-the -wisp entices the traveler into a deep chasm.

        piste@imed_9945-1.2.10 oeuvre@14468 ISRC CAD509900100
      • 11
        Die Winterreise: Rast (1997), 2m47s

        The poet finds shelter in a hut, but is so tired that he cannot rest. In spite of the quiet that surrounds him, his pain is great.

        piste@imed_9945-1.2.11 oeuvre@14469 ISRC CAD509900110
      • 12
        Die Winterreise: Frühlingstraum (1997), 1m17s

        The poet dreams of spring and of love. He closes his eyes so as not to lose the vision.

        piste@imed_9945-1.2.12 oeuvre@14470 ISRC CAD509900120
      • 13
        Die Winterreise: Einsamkeit (1997), 38s

        The traveler continues along his solitary road. He misses the tempests that had the power to stir his icy heart. He resumes his journey, even if it holds no promise of comfort.

        piste@imed_9945-1.2.13 oeuvre@14471 ISRC CAD509900130
      • 14
        Die Winterreise: Die Post (1997), 2m35s

        The sound of the post horn makes the heart leap. Even if traveler knows that no letter awaits him, hope is not yet dead.

        piste@imed_9945-1.2.14 oeuvre@14472 ISRC CAD509900140
      • 15
        Die Winterreise: Der Greise Kopf (1997), 54s

        The poet notices that his hair has turned gray, but it is only frost, not age. He shudders at the thought of how long he must continue on this long road before reaching the grave.

        piste@imed_9945-1.2.15 oeuvre@14473 ISRC CAD509900150
      • 16
        Die Winterreise: Die Krähe (1997), 1m01s

        The crow, a symbol of death, has been shadowing the traveler on his journey. But even this bird will not remain faithful until death.

        piste@imed_9945-1.2.16 oeuvre@14474 ISRC CAD509900160
      • 17
        Die Winterreise: Letzte Hoffnung (1997), 1m42s

        In the trees the poet sees a few leaves that have turned color, and he ties his fate to one of them. But the winter wind makes it fall, and his hopes fall with it.

        piste@imed_9945-1.2.17 oeuvre@14475 ISRC CAD509900170
      • 18
        Die Winterreise: Im Dorfe (1997), 3m16s

        The dogs bark at the poet as he passes, but the sleeping villagers dream of happiness. But our traveler is done with dreaming, and asks the dogs to keep him awake.

        piste@imed_9945-1.2.18 oeuvre@14476 ISRC CAD509900180
      • 19
        Die Winterreise: Der Stürmische Morgen (1997), 1m21s

        The storm howls, and the poet’s voice blends with it. He finally sees his own image in the savage world.

        piste@imed_9945-1.2.19 oeuvre@14477 ISRC CAD509900190
      • 20
        Die Winterreise: Täuschung (1997), 1m27s

        In a moment’s illusion, a will-o’-the-wisp fools the poet into believing that nearby there is a bright, warm house with a welcoming soul within.

        piste@imed_9945-1.2.20 oeuvre@14479 ISRC CAD509900200
      • 21
        Die Winterreise: Der Wegweiser (1997), 1m42s

        Standing at a crossroads our traveler reads a signpost that points to a road along which no one has ever returned. Solitude and a dread of meeting anyone drive him on to oblivion and peace.

        piste@imed_9945-1.2.21 oeuvre@14480 ISRC CAD509900210
      • 22
        Die Winterreise: Das Wirthaus (1997), 3m09s

        While passing through a cemetery the traveler finds that a tomb is calling him to his final rest. But even if he is fatally wounded his time has not yet come, and he must continue his journey, in despair.

        piste@imed_9945-1.2.22 oeuvre@14481 ISRC CAD509900220
      • 23
        Die Winterreise: Mut (1997), 1m56s

        Our traveler begins singing a joyous song in order to give himself courage, but to no avail. He is closed to his heart’s lament and, forlorn, tries to believe himself a god.

        piste@imed_9945-1.2.23 oeuvre@14482 ISRC CAD509900230
      • 24
        Die Winterreise: Die Nebensonnen (1997), 1m41s

        The traveler will soon come to the end of his journey. He has an illusion that the sky has three suns, two of which represent the eyes of his lost love. When the third disappears, death’s shadow will bring him the peace for which he has been longing.

        piste@imed_9945-1.2.24 oeuvre@14483 ISRC CAD509900240
      • 25
        Die Winterreise: Der Leiermann (1997), 2m30s

        A hurdy-gurdy man doggedly plays his melancholy melody, ignored by everyone but our traveler. “Should I go with you? Would you play my songs on your hurdy-gurdy?”

        piste@imed_9945-1.2.25 oeuvre@14484 ISRC CAD509900250
      • 26
        Die Winterreise: Coda (1997), 1m05s

        Now that all of the poems have been recited, the poet crosses, as in a film by Jean Cocteau, from the world of the living to the world of the dead by going through a mirror. He cannot be followed. The sound of the receding motorbike is another echo of Cocteau, this time of his depiction of the angels of death. (Thanks to Ned Bouhalassa for his recording of the mirror breaking.)

        piste@imed_9945-1.2.26 oeuvre@14485 ISRC CAD509900260
    • 27
      • Premiere: February 8, 1995, Maison de la culture Frontenac (Montréal, Québec)

      Traverser les grandes eaux (To Cross the Great Water) was inspired by a phrase that recurs often in translations of the I Ching (or Yi King): “It furthers one to cross the great water.” In a very different way, our journey is continuing. Traverser les grandes eaux is also a prelude to the suite of 64 very short pieces of a project that was inspired by the hexagrams of The Book of Changes.

      Traverser les grandes eaux was realized in the composer’s studio in 1994 and premiered on February 8th, 1995 as part of the Inter-Faces concert produced by Codes d’accès at the Maison de la culture Frontenac in Montréal.

      piste@imed_9945-1.27 oeuvre@14493 ISRC CAD509900270
    • 28
      Troposphère (1997), 15m35s
      • Stratus
      • Cumulonimbus
      • Altocumulus
      • Cirrus
      • Commission: ACREQ, with support from the CCA
      • Premiere: May 1, 1997, Haute tension, Usine C (Montréal, Québec)

      Troposphère is a suite of four short works in minimalist style. It was realized through a heuristic composition process by stratifying layers of sound. The troposphere is that part of the atmosphere between the ground and the stratosphere (which in turn begins between 6 and 17 km above the ground).

      Troposphère was realized in the composer’s studio in March and April 1997 and premiered on May 1st, 1997 at Usine C as part of the Haute tension concert produced by ACREQ. It was a commission by ACREQ that was made possible with the help of the Canada Council for the Arts. With thanks to Chantal Fournier, whose voice is heard on the final piece.

      piste@imed_9945-1.28 oeuvre@14494 ISRC CAD509900280
      • 28
        Troposphère: Stratus (1997), 4m19s

        1st level — lower clouds, found between the ground and 2,000 m

        Clouds which have the appearance of a continuous sheet. They occasionally produce a light drizzle or form fog.

        piste@imed_9945-1.28.28 oeuvre@14495
      • 29
        Troposphère: Cumulonimbus (1997), 3m44s

        2nd level — clouds that extend vertically from above 500 m

        Dark, mountainous clouds that produce violent downpours, lightning and thunder.

        piste@imed_9945-1.28.29 oeuvre@14496 ISRC CAD509900290
      • 30
        Troposphère: Altocumulus (1997), 3m37s

        3rd level — medium-level clouds found between 2,000 and 6,000 m

        Medium-level globular clouds that form a layer of fairly regular thin slices or tufts that are arranged in sheets or wide bands.

        piste@imed_9945-1.28.30 oeuvre@14497 ISRC CAD509900300
      • 31
        Troposphère: Cirrus (1997), 3m34s

        4th level — high-level clouds found above 6,000 m

        High clouds in the form of strands that remind one of a horse’s tail.

        piste@imed_9945-1.28.31 oeuvre@14498 ISRC CAD509900310

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