Litanies, couleur de sable (2011)

dedicated to Raoul Lay

tribute to  Jean-Louis Florentz

To start the composition of Litanies, couleurs de sable, I make an imaginary around the Africa, a continent  and a civilisation I find fascinating. I have associated to this imaginary, two artists :

Jean-louis Florentz, composer, ethnomusicologue, passionated by Africa, who composes a lyric and sensible’s music, far away from the avant garde’s dogmatism ;

Miquel Barcelo, painter, sculptor, who settled during few months in Mali. His productions has been inspired by this “initiatic’s voyage” and his work is a poignant, strong and abstract’s painting – but we guess forms and silhouettes.

So, I found similars point of view between these two artists, a strong taking root in Africa, and then, I wanted to explore a rough musical’s material and, inside, “drawing” melodics’ forms. It is what I wanted with Litanies, couleurs de sable, a split composition, in contrast and break , a work on rythm and melodic obsession.

(…)The premiere of Litanies, couleurs de sable for cello quartet by the young composer Lionel Ginoux, taught us how much this singing of the basses can be surprising of imagination and potentiality through the writing of a work for four identical instruments, moreover cantoned regularly to the low register in most of the repertoire. (…)

Frédéric Isoletta (Zibeline)