Sven - a symphonic tale
2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in Bb, 2 bassoons, 4 french horns, 2 trumpets in C (3rd trumpet in option), 2 trombones, bass trombone (or 3rd trombone), tuba, timpani, tam-tam, 2 suspended cymbals, pair of cymbals, 4 to 6 cowbells with clappers, bass drum, glockenspiel, vibraphone, snare drum, 3 toms, triangle, voice, mixed choir, harp, piano(forte), amplified clavichord (keyboard), solo violin, narrator, strings. Written and premiered in 1998. Unpublished. Duration: 40m.
I collaborated several times with Pierre Coran, on original projects as different as Pinocchio - the musical, Amadou, Comptines and Miniatures. Each time, we worked on other aspects of the relationship between an author and a composer on a common topic. With Sven, the initiatory dimension of the text should be illustrated by a music immediately accessible to the audience of children targeted by the project. Therefore I used multiple stylistic contrasts, opposing tonal and atonal music, soloist colors and orchestral masses, vocal and instrumental environment, in order to clearly express the distinct levels of symbolic significance treated in the story. Sven was premiered at the Théâtre royal de Mons on December 12, 1998 by the Pro Juventute orchestra, conducted by Jean-Noël Delferrière.