Nachtszenen creation

The German title "Nachtszenen" (Night Scenes or Nocturnal Scenes) recalls Schumann's "Waldszenen" (Forest Scenes), a piano collection from which Jacques Lenot borrowed the emblematic and mysterious "Oiseau Prophète," which became the name of the edition that publishes his music.

The work is a collection of 21 pieces grouped into three parts of 7 pieces each, with a total duration of about an hour. The first 14 pieces are adaptations, transcriptions, and orchestrations of some of the Nocturnes for piano composed for Françoise Thinat and the students of the École Normale de Musique de Paris at the end of 2017. The last 7 explore complex rhythmic writings already glimpsed but not yet developed. In fact, it is by composing on the idea of imaginary "Scènes" – or theater or opera – that certain recurring characters (which could be called "Dramatis Personae" or Characters of the Drama) emerge.

These nocturnal scenes, between dreams and perhaps nightmares, can be thought of as sudden and quickly disappearing reappearances of certain characters. The 12 notes of the scale (originally "serial") are the 12 characters - some deceased - others still alive who populate the composer's memory and musical space.

Also on the program is the work "Comme la dansante allure des vagues" (2021) by Apolline Jesupret. In the context of the "Young composers" workshop of Sturm und Klang, under the external supervision of Jean-Pierre Deleuze, Apolline Jesupret wrote this piece which she dedicated to her mother.

This piece finds its inspiration in the painting "La Baigneuse" (1910) by the Belgian painter Léon Spilliaert, where one sees the movements of the water characterized by wavy and thick graphic lines, creating a sharp contrast between shadows and light.

The score aims to depict the movement of the waves, their energy, their movements, the contrary movements between phases of rest and agitation, translated musically by moments of increasing density followed by a more streamlined writing. The management of sound masses combines with a subtle search for combinations of timbres, nuances, and tempos in a progressive agglomeration of musical material.

Maxime Stasyk and Hugo Ranilla, violins - Bram Bossier, viola - Pierre Sutra, cello - Natacha Save, double bass

Anne Davis, flute - Cédric De Bruycker, clarinet - Tibo Schildermans, oboe - Mavroudes Troullos, bassoon

Sze Fong Yeong, horn - Frankie De Kuyffer, trumpet - Alain Pire, trombone - Jean-Louis Maton, percussion

Thomas Van Haeperen, conductor