for flute, blue harp, string orchestra and percussion
In the early stages of the creation of ‘‘Le grand stellaire’’, the amplified harp appeared to me as a sort of messenger whose mission it was to unveil latent emotions, obscured till now by the limited voice of the traditional harp.
As I was composing the piece, I felt the excitement of writing for a brand new instrument, liberated from its confidentiality and now shining brilliantly; I started to discover a new musical space, comparable to a sky studded with new stars which, after thousands of light-years, one lucky night decide to let us see how they radiate.
According to the book of Genesis, God created the ‘‘great luminary’’ then the ‘‘small’’ on the fourth day of the Creation; it is with reference to such poetic material that I chose to call ‘‘Le grand stellaire’’ a piece that I consider to be an invitation to travel to the heavens and which divides itself into three parts: ‘‘Débridé’’ (Unbridled), ‘‘En éveil’’ (Awake) and ‘‘Éclatant’’ (Brilliant).
‘‘Le grand stellaire’’ was first known as a chamber music trio, commissioned by the dedicatees of the work, namely harpist Martine Flaissier and flutist Henry Vaudé, founders of the Controverse ensemble.
In 1994 already, I had worked at developing the harmonic dimension of the piece by adding a string quartet to it; as a result of this continuing preoccupation, I later on extended these parts to a full string orchestra, thus giving birth to a newer version in 2003, premiered by Thomas Prévost (flûte), Martine Flaissier, Francis Petit (percussion) and the Radio-France Philharmonic Orchestra (Kirill Karabits, cond), for the 2004 ‘‘Présences’’ festival. However, I believe that each version retains a musical pertinence of its own.
composed in: 1991-2003 (revised in 2014)
premiered in: 2004, Paris, at Maison-de-la-Radio, by Thomas Prévost (flute), Martine Flaissier (harp), Francis Petit (percussion) and the Radio-France Philharmonic Orchestra, Kirill Karabits, cond.
duration: 15’
publisher: Jobert
discography: Trio Controverse, 2003 (TRITON, « Harpe bleue », TRI 331127) (trio version, without the strings)
also in the repertoire of Anne-Cécile Cuniot, Patricia Nagla and Henry (fl.), Marion Lenart (harp), Philippe Charneux, Philippe Limoge Stéphane Mazeau and Thierry Miroglio (percussion), the Orchestre Colonne, Mark Foster, Tomás Garrido and Yannis Pouspourikas (cond.)
This work was awarded the « best premiere » prize of the SACEM in 2005.
Thomas Prévost (flute), Martine Flaissier (harp), Francis Petit (percussion)
the Radio-France Philharmonic Orchestra, Kirill Karabits, cond.
premiere concert, Paris, Maison de la Radio, 5.02.2004, for Festival Présences
Martine Flaissier is playing a Camac "Blue Harp" (details : www.camac-harps.com)
sound recording : Radio-France for France-Musique