expérimental / contemporain

M/NM | Saturday Night Ether…eal

by Alain Brunet

On Saturday, M/NM promised us a “unique immersive and meditative audiovisual experience” under the SAT (Society for Arts and Technology) Satosphere dome, with solo piano interpretations by Isak Goldschneider and Eve Egoyan, set to visuals by Elysha Poirier and David Rokeby. A calm, celestial immersion, we observed on site. Etherial ? Saturday night ether !

Isak Goldschneider was asked to play two related works, although composed at different times. First, a work by Quebecer Hans Martin, Variations sérielles, composed in 2024 and premiered before us on Saturday February 15. Video artist Elysha Poirier’s visual environment was conducive to this chromatic language slowly unfolding on the keyboard. Over the 7-minute duration of this new work, each note gently settles, spreading out these explorations of the 12 tones of the scale like a meditation. At first glance, this approach seems familiar, but it doesn’t stand out clearly. You need to listen very carefully to detect its singularity, particularly in the rhythmic ruptures, pedal effects and minimalist chords in a context of assertive serialism.

This was followed by the execution of Palais de Mari, imagined by Morton Feldman almost 40 years ago, a year before his death. The original inspiration lies in the idea of a virtual visit to the palace of King Zimri-Lim, who was the last to rule Mari, a city planted near the Euphrates 4000 years ago. The aesthetic here is similar to that chosen by Hans Martin, whose work dates back to 1986. The punctuations are sharper and the harmonic constructions atonal, typical of this period in contemporary music. Reverberation effects are very present in chords and sustained notes (tenuto), producing a sonic bond and reinforcing the impression that the notes are linked (legato), without apparent interruption. For 25 minutes, the imaginary visit continues in a post-modern, sometimes even futuristic evocation of this several-thousand-year-old palace, of which only shapeless ruins remain. Hence the minimalism of this work, in which motifs are repeated here and there.


Performed by Eve Egoyan, Simple Lines of Enquiry was composed by the late Ann Southam (1937-2010) and extends this ethereal, dreamlike, hypnotic proposition. Once again, note lapping generates reverberation between the slowly constructed motifs. The atonal choices and slowness of the pianistic execution encourage the viewing of David Rokeby’s video Machine for Taking Time. This art video projects almost still images of downtown Montreal, often the rooftops of Saint-Laurent Boulevard, many of which were taken a long time ago – as many buildings have since emerged from the ground. The same shots are repeated over the seasons, contemplating atmospheric changes, snow and/or greenery. Here again, this work is typical of contemporary composers of the previous century, as is the art video projected onto the concave screen, which was not designed for such immersion.
Other creative times, other creative morals…

Latest 360 Content

Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp – Ventre Unique

Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp – Ventre Unique

Fantastic Negrito – Son of A Broken Man

Fantastic Negrito – Son of A Broken Man

Cumbia, Chaos, and Resistance: Empanadas Illegales Bring the Heat to Montreal Jazz Fest

Cumbia, Chaos, and Resistance: Empanadas Illegales Bring the Heat to Montreal Jazz Fest

Turnstile – Never Enough

Turnstile – Never Enough

FIJM | Dianne Reeves and Romero Lubambo: An Intimate Duo of Virtuosos

FIJM | Dianne Reeves and Romero Lubambo: An Intimate Duo of Virtuosos

FIJM | Brandon Woody’s Upendo: Baltimore Represents !

FIJM | Brandon Woody’s Upendo: Baltimore Represents !

FIJM | Stella Cole: From Tik Tok to The Biggest Jazz Stages

FIJM | Stella Cole: From Tik Tok to The Biggest Jazz Stages

ALICE on Her X

ALICE on Her X

FIJM  | Samara Joy: Pushing Classic Vocal Jazz Repertoire to its Limits

FIJM | Samara Joy: Pushing Classic Vocal Jazz Repertoire to its Limits

FIJM | Nas symphonic and Nas not symphonic

FIJM | Nas symphonic and Nas not symphonic

Suoni | The Jellicle KIKI Ball #2 – Feline Grace is Served

Suoni | The Jellicle KIKI Ball #2 – Feline Grace is Served

Suoni | The Dark, Wicked, Warm and Absurd on the Same Dish

Suoni | The Dark, Wicked, Warm and Absurd on the Same Dish

FIJM | Azimuth: Brazilian Jazz Fusion of the Highest Order

FIJM | Azimuth: Brazilian Jazz Fusion of the Highest Order

FIJM | Anomalie and Lewis: Two hour Jam by Two Heavy Hitters

FIJM | Anomalie and Lewis: Two hour Jam by Two Heavy Hitters

FIJM | Thanya Iyer and Arooj Aftab, Perfect Transplants!

FIJM | Thanya Iyer and Arooj Aftab, Perfect Transplants!

Festival de Lanaudière | Renaud Loranger Explains The Program

Festival de Lanaudière | Renaud Loranger Explains The Program

FIJM | Kojo Melché Roney, Born to Drum

FIJM | Kojo Melché Roney, Born to Drum

FIJM 2025 | King Makaya triumphs again

FIJM 2025 | King Makaya triumphs again

FIJM | It’s About Time to Ackowledge Peter Evans Fabulous Playing

FIJM | It’s About Time to Ackowledge Peter Evans Fabulous Playing

FIJM | Yasmin Williams: Reinventing The Guitar!

FIJM | Yasmin Williams: Reinventing The Guitar!

FIJM | Natalia Lafourcade Sparks a Place des Arts Gone Mexican

FIJM | Natalia Lafourcade Sparks a Place des Arts Gone Mexican

FIJM | Clown Core: the theatre of extremes, between Pennywise and Krusty

FIJM | Clown Core: the theatre of extremes, between Pennywise and Krusty

Domaine Forget | A Summer of Discovery

Domaine Forget | A Summer of Discovery

FIJM | Wynton & JLCO: Something of an Opening Ceremony

FIJM | Wynton & JLCO: Something of an Opening Ceremony

Subscribe to our newsletter