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Full-Text Articles in Composition
Les Structures Du Rêve, For Two Marimbas And Multipercussion., Bruno Louchourn
Les Structures Du Rêve, For Two Marimbas And Multipercussion., Bruno Louchourn
Bruno Louchouarn
Recent studies have likened dreams to virtual reality. They are much closer in nature to our conscious life than previously thought. In many ways the apprehension of dreams parallel that of music. In both case a stream of virtually real events is pieced together and accepted by the mind in a very intuitive fashion, with similar suspension of disbelief, and similar level of aesthetic responses from the beautiful to the disturbing. Their structure is clear from moment to moment but less precisely felt globally
Tiempos - Sun/Dial, For Orchestra, Bruno Louchourn
Tiempos - Sun/Dial, For Orchestra, Bruno Louchourn
Bruno Louchouarn
The multi-movement Time Pieces is inspired by clocks through the ages, from the sun dial to the atom clock. The sun dial's time is primal, slow moving and only impresses on us the certainty that segments of the day have elapsed, a fact paralleled by the sectional nature of this movement. The use of special microtonal percussion highlights the disembodied nature of light. Since the sundial only works when the sun is casting focused rays, there is in the music a constant interplay between the diffused and the focused.
Tiempos Ii - Water/Clock, For Orchestra, Bruno Louchourn
Tiempos Ii - Water/Clock, For Orchestra, Bruno Louchourn
Bruno Louchouarn
The ancient clepsydra, or water clock, measured time by gradual flow of water. In “Water Clock” the diffuse and fluid energy of water is transformed into rhythmic time, while always retaining the impalpable quality of the liquid element.
Mémoires De L’Eau, For Eight Percussionists, Bruno Louchourn
Mémoires De L’Eau, For Eight Percussionists, Bruno Louchourn
Bruno Louchouarn
“Mémoires de l’eau” means water’s memories or memoirs. I am, like many, fascinated by that element and the importance of its three states (liquid, solid, and gaseous) in nature. The different properties of water in each state are linked to the type of bond between the molecules. I wanted to explore this concept in music. Rhythmically the elemental motive of this piece - the polyrhythm 5 against 4 against 3 - presents a varying balance between order and freedom. At different tempos it behaves differently: very fast it is fluid and free, very slow it is open and intangible, and …
Images Surfacing, For 4 Flutes And 2 Pianos, Bruno Louchourn
Images Surfacing, For 4 Flutes And 2 Pianos, Bruno Louchourn
Bruno Louchouarn
his piece was inspired by the work of American painter Lee Krasner. Her style, originally stemming from abstract expressionism, evolved to incorporate collage and a personal brand of abstract minimalism with repeated small hieroglyph-like motives. The expressiveness of her work at large, with its stunning balance between order and intuitive gestures is, for me, embodied in the title of a single painting entitled “Images Surfacing.” It prompted me to try to explore similar concepts in music. In this piece the melodic gestures have a free and abstract quality, sometimes coalescing in seemingly familiar harmonic or rhythmic structures. The freedom of …
Échanges, Guitar Duo, Bruno Louchourn
Tiempos Iv - Atoms, For Orchestra, Bruno Louchourn
Tiempos Iv - Atoms, For Orchestra, Bruno Louchourn
Bruno Louchouarn
The precision of the best mechanical clocks cannot rival that of the atomic clock which homes in on the absolute regularity of quantum changes within the atom. This regularity and the apparent simplicity of the atom are in contrast to the complex statistical nature of its electronic states, and the (growing) number of discovered sub-atomic particles. The fourth movement: "Atoms" is inspired by this notion of complexity generated by multiple simplicities.
Flux, For Flute, Multi-Percussion, And Electronics, Bruno Louchourn
Flux, For Flute, Multi-Percussion, And Electronics, Bruno Louchourn
Bruno Louchouarn
In Flux I sought to explore the shift of meaning between the clear denotation of the spoken words and their transformation into “music.” The process moves from the indexical nature of words to the corporeality of speech. The players embody that performative aspect of music-speech. This piece was conceived in layers generating each other centrifugally: “Flux,” the short poem by Carl Sandburg, has the alliterative simplicity needed for semantic and formal sonic manipulations. The 15 second reading is actually the seed from which everything is derived. The motives in the electronic layer are generated form the pitches and rhythm of …
Fiestas, For 12 Percussionists, Bruno Louchourn
Fiestas, For 12 Percussionists, Bruno Louchourn
Bruno Louchouarn
Fiestas is conceptually inspired by the "Feasts" as social rituals. The musical process and form mirror aspects of group dynamic in these gatherings. Although a few individual players may at times dominate, the ensemble has to "conduct" itself with several sub-groups emerging and disappearing. The main theme, introduced by hand claps, is an oscillation slowly quickening to a fast trepidation, giving way to a stable polyrhythm. The degree of synchronization between players or groups of players varies and generally increases toward more order as the piece unfolds. I wanted to impart a sense of “orchestra” to the group with relatively …
De Una Piedra De Gracia, For Marimba And Chamber Orchestra, Bruno Louchourn
De Una Piedra De Gracia, For Marimba And Chamber Orchestra, Bruno Louchourn
Bruno Louchouarn
Text: “Y sucedió que incontables gracias nacieran de una piedra de gracia.” Libro de los espíritus Mayas “And it so happened that countless graces were born out of a stone of grace.” Book of Mayan Spirits In the cosmology of the Mayas there are various cycles of creation starting from simple elements and building upon themselves. The sober poetry of this fragment was the starting point for the piece. Through the three sections there is a increase in the complexity in the material and in the interraction between the players. Concurrently the degree of independence and stratification decrease all the …
Music For Films, Tv, Commercial, Bruno Louchourn
Music For Films, Tv, Commercial, Bruno Louchourn
Bruno Louchouarn
Music for film, TV, and commercials. Titles include: Tango Flush, The Novice, Cover Up (Dolph Lungren), Latin, Surf Orpheus, Total Recall, 100 Centre Streetm Black Dog.
Retour, For Piano, Video And Electronics, Bruno Louchourn
Retour, For Piano, Video And Electronics, Bruno Louchourn
Bruno Louchouarn
A return—but also a reversal (of fortune)—ReTouR stems from an inquiry into the narrative shape of love gained and lost, mediated and articulated by music. The myth of Orpheus is a archetype of such a narrative. In itself the myth has a symmetrical structure: growing love interrupted by the death of Eurydice, followed by Orpheus’ descent to Hades, his stay there and intense negotiation with the powers that be; his ascent back toward light with his love regained, only to loose her again forever. The piece’s shape and structure—a quasi palindrome—explore the abstract narrative of loss in the liminal and …
Vivid Spaces, For Violin And Piano, Bruno Louchourn
Vivid Spaces, For Violin And Piano, Bruno Louchourn
Bruno Louchouarn
This is another offering in the “space” cycle. In “The Poetics of Space,” French philosopher Gaston Bachelard analyses the spaces that surround us; spaces we live in and dream about. Prompted and informed by this book, Vivid Spaces muses on the experience of inhabiting. “Intimate immensity,” “interstitial and transitory spaces,” “inner spaces of memory,” “angular spaces”, and “retreat” are explored here in the brevity and evanescence of the musical experience.
Arc-Tension, For Clarinet And Piano, Bruno Louchourn
Arc-Tension, For Clarinet And Piano, Bruno Louchourn
Bruno Louchouarn
This piece is part of a cycle on the phenomenology and poetics of spaces and explores the idea of a linear space. In French “arc” means both “bow” and “arch.” In both these artifacts there is a sense of contained tension and energy, even in their static state. This particular contrast, present in the keystone—holding the arch together—and in the taut bow string, has prompted me to explore this kind of tension musically. There is a sense of restrained movement in the constant interaction between fast figuration and slow pulse, flow and interrupting silence. Like the bow, high strung but …
Vox Populi, For Timpani And Electronics, Bruno Louchourn
Vox Populi, For Timpani And Electronics, Bruno Louchourn
Bruno Louchouarn
Vox populi is the voice of the people, the crowd. It expresses our basic feelings, emotions, or demand, often in a quasi-verbal fashion. These are utterances we share and understand spontaneously--something raw, intuitive but also capable of subtle changes. The tape represents these collective voices, the immediate rhetorical mode of address. The timpani matches the raw power of the voice and the sonic dimension of the tape. They cover a wide emotional range. The drums also have a ritualistic framing function bringing order to human utterances.