nicolas vérin “quatre pièces pour solistes et sons fixés” compact disc

• miroirs deformants (12:05) 1988-1991
  
• metalmorphose (14:00) 1989
  
• mariposa clavada que medita su vuelo (17:20) 1996
  
• p'hioni (16:32) 2000

ina-grm press release...

miroirs deformants (1988-1991 - editions jobert) miroirs deformants ("fun house mirrors") is based on reflections on several planes: instrument and tape, vertical and horizontal, close and distant, on the level of timbre and of the piece's structure. the oboe part makes use of many extended techniques, for which the collaboration of drake mabry was crucial. they are integrated in the very language of the piece, blending them with the electronic transformations. miroirs deformants is the only piece realized in jean-claude eloy's centre d'informatique appliquee a la musique et a i'lmage (rueil-malmaison, 1987-90). it uses many of its resources: carl software; syter (computer music system developed by the groupe de recherche musicale) ; traditional analog studio techniques, including 24 track mixing. the four-track tape uses sounds mostly from oboe (recordings of drake mabry) as well as a few other sources (zarb, saxophone, synthesis). revised in 1991 at the sonus studio of lyon's conservatory. thanks to françois laferriere, richard pennant and bruno souchaud, and also to philippe manoury and christophe germanique. miroirs deformants is dedicated to drake mabry. ... metalmorphose (1989) commission from grm, this piece was realized there, mostly with the syter system for sound processing as well as sound synthesis. i did not want to write a concerto, nor a piece where the instrument is a mere alibi to the absence of live and visual elements, but instead to find a relation of equality between percussion and electroacoustics. they are thus strongly integrated, which does not exclude some autonomy. the piece is based on the idea that every sound has for origin a transfer of energy. the hitting object communicates its dynamics to the struck sound body (here mostly metal) and similarly, the resulting sound from this percussion generates its own electronic processing. these transformations operate both in the acoustic world (prepared vibraphone, chords of heterogenous sounds, special modes of attack), on the tape (through the use of syter and of the multitrack studio), and between the two (by relay, merging, illusion). the original and its double, the front and the back, articulated or slack time, impatience or restraint of the discourse, principles of periodicity or of systematic irregularity, shape the elements of a mosaic of contrasted passages of varied durations. metalmorphose is dedicated to gerard siracusa, without whom the piece would not have existed. thanks to daniel teruggi and bernard bruges-renard. ... mariposa clavada que medita su vuelo (1996 - editions jobert) the title is a verse (in parentheses in the poem, which reinforces its supended aspect, as if it were out of time) from the oda a salvador dali by federico garcia lorca. "pinned butterfly that meditates its flight", the epheameral agitation of a fluttering life is but our only possibility to take flight. let's not wait until death, which alone is devoid of precariousness, to accept serenely the unstableness of the present. there is no contradiction, but a complementarity, between the sonic matter's internal micromobility, its swarming, and a smooth and unfolded curve, a broad and free flight. proliferating energy is a source of life and allows to elevate oneself, towards an ample and blooming breath. this work, dedicated to dominique, was realised in the studios of grm and ligys. commission from grm, premiered in the festival presence 1996 at radio france's auditorium olivier messiaen, by cecile daroux, flute, and the composer, sound direction. ... p'hioni (2000) the title (pronounced between pioni and fioni) is the georgian name of a rather strong wind blowing from the east over the caucasus. this piece is the fourth of a cycle on winds for solo instruments and fixed sounds. the soloist is a character that takes us, while being itself carried away by the wind, in a journey during which we come across evocations, quotations, of snippets of music or noise, as sonic exhalations brought by the wind. commission from the french state ; realised at ligys and grm studios, it was premiered at radio-france in june 2000 by jean-paul celea, to whom it is dedicated.