« Espaces Nocturnes »

This piece was commissioned by Radio-France and composed in 1976.
It lasts around 17-18 minutes.
It was intended to be performed by a small group of eight instrumentalists playing:
- flute
- flute in G
- clarinet in Bb
- bass clarinet
- harp
- percussion (2 stands)
- bass
Here is a list of the percussion instruments :
- 3 kettledrums
- 2 tom-toms
- 1 marimba
- 1 vibraphone
- 1 gong
- tubular bells
- 2 temple blocks
- 1 slide-flute
This piece, conceived in one and only movement, is a kind of long improvised song, structured by some simple recurrent elements which act like obsessional features and landmarks.
The flutes play an important part.
The rythm is very flexible, like most sounds produced outdoors in the middle of the countryside.
In a rather refined ambience, while the melodic line is progressing, one can remark echoes, freely imitative motives, contrasting ponctuations....
This music is not really descriptive. One has to consider it as a spontaneous song reminding us of nocturnal music in the wild.

Editions Radio-France
tél: 33 (0)1 56 40 49 43

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