to Annette Vande Gorne

These Chronicles are an impressionistic sonic version of visual elements — an undoubtedly metaphorical act — a personal daydream of light based on a concept by Montréal visual artist Luc Courchenes.

With sound transpositions of luminous phenomena, natural rays or multiple artefacts, Chroniques de la lumière is comprised of three movements: Miroitements (Shimmers), Artifices, Météores (Meteors) or, if one prefers: adagio, allegro, presto finale.

Miroitements is a contemplative and a slow motion music. It calls to mind sunrise and sunset, northern lights, the progressiv move of the shadow under the clouds and also the soft changes of the light reflected in the water.

The two last movements are linked (10:23 from the beginning of Artifices).

Artifices is talking about the man-made light, from the primitive fire till the most sophisticated laser. It proceeds by a progressive change from white sound and disorder (entropy) to sine wave and accurate pitch.

Météores proceeds by a progressive increase of elements, by slow accumulation, an increment of density and a reinforcement of the sensation of speed and kinetic energy.

F.D.

Chroniques de la lumière was realized at the composer’s studio but many of the sounds were realized at Studio 123 and with the SYTER real-time sound synthesis system of the INA-GRM (Paris). This work was commissioned by the SMCQ (Montreal) and realized with the assistance of the Canada Council.

Chroniques de la lumière: C.D. and cassette. UMMUS, Série “Actuelles”, UMM C 101. Université de Montréal. Artifices: CD “The human touch”, ICMC 1994, Aarhus, Danmark. Météores: C.D. “Mouvances-Métaphores” produced by empreintes DIGITALes (IMED-9107/08-CD).

Miroitements was selected by the ICMC 1995 in Banff, Alberta (Canada), Artifices was selected by the ICMC 1994 in Aarhus (Danmark), Météores was selected by the ISCM for the 1990 World Music Days in Oslo (Norway) and by the ICMC 93 in Tokyo (Japan).

Source: 2014