for oboe
‘‘Dialogues’’ is dedicated to Christian Schmitt, its performer, and to Bruno Ory-Lavollée, the president of the ‘‘Festival des Forêts’’; it features a theatrical exchange between two imaginary characters. Their exchange takes place in a very narrow space, as in the two lively and virtuoso movements flanking the piece or, in turn, in a more expansive, meditative mood as in the central movement. The piece owes its unity to recurrent motifs: the minor third C sharp-A sharp ensures the transition between the second and third movements, whereas a module consisting of the successive enunciation of two seconds separated by a half-tone pervades the whole piece. Each movement allows for a variety of alternating styles so that the soloist embodies different characters without needing a transition from one to the other, since the dynamic remains that of a continuous exchange, thus giving somehow to the whole piece the character of a dialog.
Comments by Vincent Paulet and Bruno Ory-Lavollée collected by Hermine Videau (excerpt from the work’s premier concert program on July 10th, 2005)
composed in: 2005
commissioned work premiered in: 2005, at the ‘‘Festival des Forêts’’, by Christian Schmitt
duration: 4’30’’
publisher: Jobert
also in the repertoire of Frédéric Tardy