Bruno Mantovani - D'un rêve parti (2002)

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Bruno Mantovani - D'un rêve parti (2002)

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JAZZ CONNOTATION: "The title of this piano work refers to an Ornette Coleman jazz standard, Blue connotation. At the time of composition, the famous saxophonist had already shaken off the shackles of the rigid chorus-verse system which had hitherto provided lire basis for improvisation, and sought to create a more liberal structure, or free jazz. In Blues Connotation, however. Coleman did not try to surprise the listener with the odd harmonic or formal eccentricity, but paid tribute to a genre that he felt to be outmoded (since it had been very strictly defined for some thirty years and, consequently was no longer a suitable vehicle for personal expression). Coleman also modified the structure of the blues by shortening it and thus turning the theme into a parody. In fact, despite borrowing from a pre-existing form, he remained the master and imposed a radical modification on the piece.
Although I did not want references to jazz to predominate over my own language when composing this piece, several musical ideas did jump straight out of the American repertoire. To begin with, the form is built of seven different sections, thus creating an improvisatory structure (Thema, Chorus no 1, Blues, Chorus no 2, Four / four, Half tine, Turn around). Next. I used elements of typical phrasing, such as moving the expressive accent, remoulding the line and shifting the accompanying chords relative to the main melody. But it is in fact perhaps in its general atmosphere that the piece betrays most jazz influence, and file virtuoso jubilation of Chorus no 2, or the dynamic ruptures inserted into the Thema, are unpredictable playful elements that recall the world of improvisation." (Bruno Mantovani)

LES DANSES INTERROMPUES: "Although Les Danses interrompues may be played as separate entity, they were conceived as a transition between two other works written in 1998 and 1999 respectively, Jazz Connotation and D'un rêve parti. Inserting the final chord of the first piece (for solo piano) into the opening bars Les Danses interrompues enabled me to introduce some forty minutes gradually into the cycle as a whole. The new work, which is linked to the personality of the musicians of the Alternance ensemble, and in particular their pianist Jay Gottlieb, was inspired by certain types of popular music (such as jazz, techno and even flamenco in the short central section), the references sometimes acting as a foreshadow of the final section of the triptych. The back and forth movement between the material borrowed from the first two pre-existing pieces punctuates the drama, in which development only rarely lakes place. In fact, the music works for the most part on juxtaposition, and the "interruption" (hence the title), the structure as a whole taking its meaning train the recurrent flashes which always appear in different disguises. The piano occupies an important place in the cycle, even outside the first section, so much so that the work could be considered as a vast concerto. But it was not my wish to imprison this piece, with its singular guresis, in the confines of such a well-defined genre, for I wanted rather to present the listener with this "imaginary ballet" for what it is - a large, rhapsodic, playful divertissement." (Bruno Mantovani)

D'UN RÊVE PARTI: "I am often overcome by the need to write playful pieces, in which the musical argument is eccentric, disjointed. These works are often completed in a few days, and then serve as playgrounds for experiments in which I intuitively give my inspiration free rein, without trying to box it in. By incorporating elements taken from the popular repertoire of my 'natural' musical language I can create diversity and underline the extrovert side of the work because of the drama created by the allusions. After Jazz Connotation, which built on the structure of a standard and implied the use of improvisation, and following Grand jeu which used granular sound synthesis with funk rhythm patterns, D'un rêve parti takes its musical material from techno (as hinted at in the title: in French, it sounds like "a rave party"). And yet, the reference becomes explicit only in the second part of the piece. The whole of the first part is involved in setting up the conditions for a coda inspired by synthesisers of the 1970s which are so admired by today's DJs. By opening with a complex and irrational set of superimposed rhythms, the piece manages to create an imbalance which resolves in borrowing from techno (including the regular beat, and the imitation of drum machines with specific styles). So when "music with connotations" appears in the score, it seems to be anecdotal. The reference then becomes formal, since it results from the initial musical idea, and not from other musical material foreign to my style." (Bruno Mantovani)