pour A clarinet, viola and piano
Written between 1994 and 2001 at the suggestion of clarinetist Jacques Merrer, the piece ‘‘Oiseaux du Paradis’’ can be heard in echo to Mozart’s ‘‘Kegelstatt Trio’’, to be played by a clarinet, viola and piano; but its filiation is more to be found on the side of Ravel (author of choir music ‘‘Trois beaux oiseaux du Paradis’’ Three Pretty Birds of Paradise), whose famous central movement, ‘‘Concerto en sol’’, I used as a model: in both cases, the ample melody exposed by the piano in the course of the first part reappears, in the form of a variation, in the third part. Here, however, the central movement disrupts the piece’s unity by suddenly introducing upsetting figures, and develops certain motifs taken from the original melody by applying renewed rhythmical forms to them.
In poetic terms, the piece appeared to me as a dreamlike moment, during which the spirit frees itself from dull reality; that reality, out of which the chant will emerge, is present at the beginning of the piece in its grayer tones and will recur in the conclusion, thus leaving the dream unresolved, like a window still open on a wonder world whose contours everyone can imagine in their own hearts (is it a ‘‘magic garden’’ or… Paradise?).
The piece is a commissioned work by the State and was premiered at the ‘‘Nouveau Siècle’’ in Lille, on March 23rd, 2003, by the musicians of Trio Arcade, to whom the piece is dedicated.
composed in: 1994 - 2001
commissioned work for the State
premiered in: 2003, Lille, Nouveau Siècle, by Trio Arcade
duration: 14’
publisher: Jobert