In this piece, the performers are equipped with headsets, allowing me to interact with them in a musical way. In these headsets, they receive an “aural score” composed of phrases or musical gestures that I have previously produced, as well as sounds captured live. 

A large part of the piece is semi-improvised because my computer system allows me to change several elements live (like a “conductor behind a computer”). As for the musicians, they have to imitate the sounds played in their ears in an exact but creative way, because the sound played in the headphones is only sometimes easy to reproduce. It is essential for me to allow musicians expressive freedom in this period where critical thought has little place in society, especially since the year 2020. 

This approach to composition, which is new to me, offers me an enormous potential for artistic expression to explore in this work and in future projects. In fact, the conception of the piece and its realization took me more than ten years. 

I would like to thank Brice Gatinet for his contribution to the piece and Takuto Fukuda for his assistance with computer music programming. 

The piece was commissioned by the Paramirabo ensemble and supported by the Conseil des arts et des Lettres du Québec.