2011

 


ARRANGEMENT


Thanks for saving my life
(K. Gamble/L. Huff)
 
Tenor saxophone, trumpet in Bb, trombone, drum set, piano, acoustic guitar, electric bass, voice (C#3 - B4), backing vocals (C#4 - C5), strings. Duration: 2m 50s. Key: A major. Private commission. Unpublished.
 


 
COMPOSITIONS


Duotango 
 
Two pianos. Duration: 11m. Created on March 25, 2011 by Claudine Orloff and Burkard Spinnler at the Eduardo del Pueyo Musical Center, Brussels. Commissioned by Claudine Orloff and Burkard Spinnler. Unpublished.

Duotango is written at the request of two fellow pianists who wish to add to their repertoire an original work reflecting their current stylistic aspirations. As asked by the commissioners the tango is the central source of inspiration, but I treat it more by the spirit than by illustrative material. Duotango is a succession of nine short cells, each one axed on its specific character. It's like a puzzle, where each piece is defined by a precise shape, and fits to the others in order to create a detailed main view. This procedure is close to the one used in the Tulse Luper Suitcases.

 


Moverture

2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in Bb, 2 bassoons, 2 french horns, 2 trumpets in C, timpani, triangle, strings. Duration: 9m 35s. Commissioned by the “Vlaams-Brabants Symphonie Orkest“. Unpublished.

To write in 2011 a completely tonal music can probably offend a number of harsh, self-proclaimed progressive and uncompromising spirits. I will not reopen here this old and endless debate, but nevertheless want to briefly reiterate my position: tonality is a language, and thus a composition tool, no more no less "sacred" than any other, and possibly more able to illustrate certain categories of expression. In Moverture I use several types of tonal environment, and merge them in a symphonic patchwork.