Virée classique | Discovery Trail: From Carillon Bells to Octobass Resilience

The Maison symphonique discovery tour is a recurring activity of the Classical Spree. Present at each edition, it allows the Montreal public to discover and take ownership of this great concert hall in a different and privileged way. Aside from the interior tour dotted with information stations, the demonstration and exhibition of the carillon bells and the octobass served as the heart of this activity.

With half an hour each – and they would certainly have gladly taken more – Serge Desgagnés, OSM solo percussionist, and Eric Chappel, double bassist and octobassist, presented their extraordinary instruments and answered questions from the audience composed of adults, young people, and children. It was beautiful and exciting to hear Serge Desgagnés share his enthusiasm for these new orchestral instruments, the fruit of the work of craftsmen from the Royal Eijsbouts Foundry in the Netherlands who made the ten bells, the largest of which (low F#) weighs 384 kg and the smallest (middle B) a mere 20 kg. For the colors and richness they bring, and which he demonstrated, Serge Desgagnés cherishes the dream of seeing his family of bells grow. To reach the entire chromatic scale? Why not!

The same interest and passion drove Eric Chappell, whose instrument dates back to 1850 and whose function was to amplify the orchestra’s lower register for large-scale works. In addition to explaining the history of his instrument and the challenges that its maintenance and mobility can generate, the latter was honored at the conclusion of the session as the audience heard a composition made for a quartet of instrumentalists including the octobass, two cellos and an oboe. Entitled Resilience, this work by the young Quebec composer Thierry Côté uses a figurative language, inspired by nature, its beauty, and its strength that dominates human beings and leads them to face the elements, both philosophical and natural.

The work, lasting approximately eight minutes, does not confine the octobass to a pedal role. The instrument’s low notes rumble, but move, are active, and in turn nourish the cello and oboe lines, which weave different instrumental melodies around this constant harmonic support. Each instrumental line feeds into each other in a sort of perpetual movement. Regarding the challenge of composing a chamber music piece for the octobass, we can say that Thierry Côté makes an interesting contribution to the instrument’s catalogue.

Photo : Gabriel Fournier