Musique d'art (2022)
for three violas, cello and double bass — 50-minute concert
“Fascinating.” “Hypnotic.” “Mesmeric.”
The media have been heaping words of wonder over Simon Martin’s most recent work, Musique d’art (2022), premiered at the Festival international de musique actuelle de Victoriaville (FIMAV) on 22 May 2022.
This work brings together the feature elements of the composer’s language in a style that is both more personal and more accessible than ever. The piece is entirely composed of major and minor chords performed in natural harmony, which means that it is full of both familiar and surprising sounds. Above all, Musique d’art (2022) achieves a subtle balance between sonic phenomenon and dramatic structure, so that listeners are gradually pulled into the sound … until the finale reveals what was really happening!
Composer's Notes
We never know where each new project will lead us. But we still dream about it. In this case, I hope that it is the beginning of a regular, recurrent work with local musicians, to develop with them, in the long term, a common expertise.
One thing is certain, this is by far my most dramatic, most contrasting work since 2015.
Simon Martin
Credits
Composition : Simon Martin
Performers :
- Lyne Allard, viola
- Victor Fournelle-Blain, viola
- Jean René, viola
- Émilie Girard-Charest, cello
- Etienne Lafrance, double bass
Technique : Guillaume Barrette
Press quotes
« Sa musique très spéciale se fonde sur le déploiement de textures harmoniques qui varient progressivement en relief et en intensité, le tout conclu par une superbe ascension dans les fréquences plus aiguës. Cette linéarité du son finit par happer le mélomane et le brancher sur les microdétails de ce minimalisme apparent exprimé dans l’œuvre créée dimanche, Musique d’art (2022). » Alain Brunet, PAN M 360
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“Performed Sunday in the main sanctuary of a beautifully renovated 19th-century church, the simplicity of the music provided a calm and reflective respite from the more complex and vigorous material in most festival concerts over four days.” Irwin Block, Avant Music News
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“Long tones intersected, diverged, converged and finally built to shimmering climax. A fascinating concert.” Mike Chamberlain, All About Jazz
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“The church’s special ambience was even more ideally suited to composer Simon Martin’s mesmeric minimalist work Musique d’Art (2022).” Josef Woodard, DownBeat
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“It is almost impossible to equate the music to the passing of time during the performance. Some tones seem to hang in the air for months, creating a luxurious and all-encompassing soundscape for listeners.” Byron Coley, The Wire.
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Concert
22.05.2022 – Festival international de musique actuelle de Victoriaville (FIMAV) – Victoriaville
Photos by Caroline Campeau, 2022