This CD brings together pieces of different nature, composed between 2010 and 2015. The specificity of each commission (homage to Beethoven, concertos, narrative music for the general public) led me to musical codes that differ in each case, without however relinquishing my “obsessions”: an attractive yet atonal harmonic language, expressive polyrhythmics, a melody that develops in a poly-metric space. Each time I attempt to solve a new poetical proposal, a singular fantasy, through the use of new expressive means.
LA BATAILLE DE SAN ROMANO for orchestra.
LA BATAILLE DE SAN ROMANO (The Battle of San Romano), based on Paolo Uccello’s grand tryptic, can be compared to Beethoven’s belligerent Third Symphony, which shares the same instrumentation. Although separated by almost four centuries, both tableau and symphony are associated in my mind by their common character: impetuosity, pugnacity, heroism, vibrant colours, sequential rhythms, dynamism. My “Battle” is in three connected movements slow-fast-slow, which correspond to the different stages of combat: the wait, then the outburst of energy, followed by silence and stupefaction. Encouraged to directness by Beethoven and Uccello, I felt drawn towards a few military clichés: timpani and trumpets, various cavalcades, assuming their inevitable descriptive charge…
Commissioned by the National Orchestra of France (ONF) and the Seattle Symphonic Orchestra. First performance 12th November 2012 at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées by the ONF and Daniele Gatti (conductor).
INTO THE WILD, Cello Concerto n°2.
The “wildness” of INTO THE WILD resides in the particular virtuosity of the solo part, exceptionally liberated at the cost of extreme difficulty. The dedication “To free species” is willingly mysterious. Possibly a homage to Nature, a major issue for humanity in the 21st century?
Commissioned by the Toulon Opera Orchestra. First performed on 11th March 2016 at the Toulon Opera, by the Toulon Opera Orchestra, with Edgar Moreau (cello) and Fayçal Karoui (conductor).
PASTORALE, Concerto for oboe, bassoon and orchestra.
PASTORALE, is a homage to two instruments that traditionally illustrate the sentiment of Nature in the fantasy of composers, the kind of nature that is controlled and ordered by man. My Pastorale on the other hand is inspired by the incredible diversity and unpredictability of Nature, transcribed by a complex rhythmical language, akin to the rustling leaves of a tree, to the ever-changing waves of the ocean, to the unique contour of a mountain rock. Indeed the soloists, whose parts are written very precisely, sometimes appear to be disconnected from, or, on the contrary, to be imitating each other.
Commissioned by the Rouen Haute-Normandie Opera. First performed on 22nd October 2010 at the Rouen Theatre by the Rouen Opera Orchestra, with Hélène Devilleneuve (oboe), Marc Trenel (bassoon) and Hervé Niquet (conductor).
LA MACHINE DE TRURL, Suite for orchestra.
LA MACHINE DE TRURL (Trurl’s Machine), is originally a piece for narrator and orchestra. Here it is performed in a purely instrumental version. Stanislas Lem’s text is principally aimed at a young audience but not only… The subject of this philosophical and science-fiction tale is pleasant and entertaining; but it also includes linguistic, scientific and ecological backdrops that make it equally interesting for an older audience. It tells the story of two mad scientists, buffoons and sorcerer’s apprentices. Trurl, inventor of a machine “that can do anything that begins with the letter N”, tries to impress Clapaucius, his jealous friend. Rashly, they will drag everything, including the whole Cosmos, into a wild adventure.
Commissioned by the National Orchestra of France (ONF). First performed at the Maison de Radio France, on 23rd May 2015 by the ONF, Eric Genovèse (narrator) and Jean Deroyer (conductor).
Pascal Zavaro
Translated from French by Isabelle Watson
