On Friday, June 26, Flore Laurentienne reached its full maturity in a packed Maison symphonique. The ensemble led by composer and conductor Mathieu David Gagnon deserves our utmost respect and admiration, as its approach stands out from everything else on the neoclassical scene. This brilliant orchestra—whose aesthetic could be described as “chamber prog”—must now be considered a flagship of Quebec culture; its international visibility is at an all-time high!
Normally, I’m not particularly fond of purely tonal instrumental works composed in our time—that is, those that exclude dodecaphonism and other compositional systems that differ from the traditions of Romanticism and early 20th-century modern music.
Mathieu David Gagnon does not belong to the contemporary school; his signature lies elsewhere: in instrumentation and sound rather than in harmonies and melodies. He combines the strings (violins, viola, cello, harp, etc.) and percussion of his ensemble with various analog keyboards to create a truly unique textural effect. What’s more, the OSM’s stage-sized organ proves to be a substantial addition to the performance.
Thus, this brilliant textural innovation gives Mathieu David Gagnon’s compositions a truly unique character, at the intersection of prog, neoclassicism, and post-minimalism.
In the fortissimos, this harmonic power becomes simply dazzling! How can one not be swept away by such dramatic crescendos, which are at once profound and seemingly simple?
Ever since Fleuve 1—an iconic piece by Flore Laurentienne released in 2019 and performed on Friday to close the program—this “soundscape” has gained momentum; these surges in intensity were also evident in several tracks from the album released this spring, the excellent Volume III—which made up the first half of the concert, followed by Flore Laurentienne’s “big hits,” as described by their composer, impassively and deadpan.
There’s no need to conclude that this exceptionally talented musician from Quebec has carved out a unique path in the world of instrumental music; let’s just predict that this work will circle this small planet many times over… a planet that so desperately needs these healing vibrations.
Photo Credit: Frédérique Ménard-Aubin
