vertical et blanc une géométrie Nr. 3

The texts of the French author Anne-Marie Albiach have long been the point of departure for my works. Following the viola concerto « monstrueuse vécut dans le cadre » la mémoire, which is based on her « H II » linéaires, the three texts entitled « une géométrie » have generated a new cycle. As in the other two works of the cycle, « vertical et blanc » is predicated on two different readings of the text: on the one hand a (private) reading by Anne-Marie Albiach in which time is measured out while on the other hand the graphic text is measured millimeter by millimeter. The latter serves as the basis the genetic code for the temporal, horizontal structures of the ensemble part,whereas the reading of the author appears late in the melodic lines of the solo alto flute, which force the ensemble to play an accompaniment in flat surfaces. In « vertical et blanc » one clearly recognizable element is repeated: a ninth chord, the basic element in the works of Claude Debussy, the composer who I admire wholeheartedly. For the generation of tone materials this chord is compressed and stretched within the ranges (frames) of tones which are derived from the horizontal positions of the text fragments: lower, borderline tones on the left margin, and higher borderline tones on the right margin. Thus the disposition on the page, essential for Anne-Marie Albiach (and first introduced in poetry by Mallarmé in Un coup de dés jamais n’abolira le hasard), is rendered in sound. Naturally each element of the text serves to mould structure and dynamics, to include the typography: fragments within quotation marks, in italics, etc., yield different sonorities and movements. Whereas the ensemble articulates rhythmically each character of the text, the rhythms of the solo flute articulate only its syllables and words. Each word of the author’s reading of the text is instrumentated differently, which is important for the entire cycle. Thus a compact network of instrumental combinations is created in which, word for word, the text is made audible.