Interviews

“An episodic opera without a narrative, Listening to the Lost explores and investigates our emotional connection to sound, how we hold sound events and music in memory, how we trigger these memories, and how we transform, distort, and essentially recreate these flash memories.”

“L’écoute du perdu is a non-narrative, episodic opera that explores and interrogates our emotional connection to sound and how we hold onto sound and music in our memories, how they are triggered, and how we transform, distort, and essentially re-create with these fragmented ‘flashbulb’ memories. We begin with Guglielmo Marconi, a pioneer of the radio, who is famously attributed the belief that sound never dies.”

These are the foundations of this work imagined by Keiko Devaux for three human voices, flutes, clarinets, cello, synthesizer and percussion. The Montreal composer clearly summarizes the issues at stake:

PAN M 360: How did it all start?

KEIKO DEVAUX: It started with a conversation with Jeffrey Stonehouse (artistic director of Paramirabo), he was open to different possibilities and gave me carte blanche. In the context of my PhD studies, I was working on memory, especially the memory of sound and its different implications.  

PAN M 360: So your interest in the memory of sounds would have led you to creation, beyond a postgraduate degree?

KEIKO DEVAUX: I was fascinated by the Italian (physicist, inventor and businessman) Guglielmo Marconi, especially because he believed that sound waves had an eternal life and that one could eventually design a machine capable of capturing all the frequencies, all the historical sound moments. I found that a very beautiful concept! It fed me.  

PAN M 360: Also your knowledge of the phenomena around your interest in memory has clearly been deepened!

KEIKO DEVAUX: I was obsessed with these stories about memory. Beyond this interest in Marconi, in the science of memory and sound, I became interested in flash memory or episodic memory. In fact, all the forms of memory that humans have. The stronger the emotion of a moment, the more it loops in our memory, the more distorted it becomes. And I found it super interesting that our most precious moments can also be the most distorted. I also learned that the sensory episodes put into memory are really clear – the texture, the smell, etc. We forget some aspects of these episodes, a phrase, a color, but the emotion remains intact.

PAN M 360: How did the project then take shape?

KEIKO DEVAUX: So I proposed this idea that was brewing in my head to Jeff and he thought it was a cool concept. I then considered the possibility of working with opera voices and “physically playing” with the text; I actually preferred a text setting to a libretto, I wanted the collaboration of different authors rather than working on a narrative framework with a single librettist. I suggested to Jeff that we compose a large piece where each movement would represent an individual flash memory, which justified the approach with different authors. So I joined Daniel Canty, Kaie Kellough and Michaël Trahan. I wanted the texts to be bilingual and conceived here. I suggested to Kaie that he write a text related to the memory of a book. To Michaël, I wanted a text about the memory of a person. To Daniel Canty, who was also fascinated by this theme of memory, I asked him to write the prologue and epilogue, a narrative voice of Marconi with these questions: do sounds never die? Where are they in space?

PAN M 360: How did this materialize in the final form of this “episodic opera without a narrative framework”?

KEIKO DEVAUX: The prologue announces the idea (text by Daniel Canty). A first movement illustrates the episodic memory of a person (English text by Kaie Kellough). A second movement presents the contrasting memory of another person (French text by Michaël Trahan). A third is a kind of synthesis that represents the machine where we go through several memories – a “mise en texte” of myself with fragments intermingled from the writings of our authors, with their permission. And we end with the epilogue (Daniel Canty). These authors are really great in their respective styles, in the rhythm of their sentences, the choice of their words!

PAN M 360: Obviously, you had to dress up this concept so that it would shine on stage. How did you go about it?

KEIKO DEVAUX: With the support of Le Vivier Group (of which Jeff Stonehouse is also the artistic director), we had more means. I started to visualize the play and I considered that we needed to emphasize the visual dimension with lighting, projections and also a staging to underline the theatrical dimension. I then discussed with the director Marie Brassard, to get feedback and finally she loved the idea of staging this opera with her formidable expertise. She brought her whole team, set designer, lighting designer, Karl Lemieux projections.

PAN M 360: So, in your own way, you imagined what this fantastical machine of Marconi, to whom we owe the invention of the radio, would be.

KEIKO DEVAUX: Just as you change channels on the radio, you change channels in this work by presenting several different memories, and then you find yourself in the machine. 

PAN M 360: It could not be clearer.

INFOS ET BILLETS pour les représentations de samedi, 15h et 18h30 à la Fonderie Darling, C’EST ICI

The Igloofest Festival celebrates its 15th anniversary with great fanfare! Its mission: to highlight electronic music, energize the Old Port district and promote Montreal internationally with this unique initiative. Usually, large-scale events rely on programming that can combine quality and the satisfaction of the general public. Which is often a big challenge!

That of January 28 offered a range of music – on the Videotron stage – very punchy and totally feminine: urtrax, Isabel Soto and No Police. PAN M 360 spoke with Isabel Soto on this occasion.

DJ and producer, originally from Venezuela, she is in the process of becoming the next star from here and elsewhere. In less than two years, she has multiplied the projects galore: resident for the Arder collective in Montreal or DifferentSound in Georgia, affiliated with several labels such as Diffuse Reality, Second State, Occultech Recordings, Sine Space 7…Not to mention that she is also a photographer and graphic designer.

It would seem that hard work and simplicity are the keys to its success.

PAN M 360: Isabel, I would like to know more about your career as a producer and DJ. Tell me, in detail, what brought you into music.

Isabel Soto: I started producing and mixing in 2019. Just before the pandemic started, I bought myself a controller to start learning. However, you should know that I have been involved in the music industry since 2012 as a graphic designer and photographer for Montreal parties. In 2016, I started to discover the techno scene during a concert at the mythical Stereo Club. Since then, I have been completely involved. Moreover, I discovered the European scene which opened my eyes to the extent of the possibilities of techno music. All of this really motivated me to totally get into production and DJing. My advantage was being very familiar with visual design software and when I started learning to use Ableton, I was relatively comfortable with the interface. But, I took a lot of classes to better understand all the keys to creation, production and post-production. The pandemic was a key moment because I spent a lot of time at home learning and working with a producer from Bueno Aires online: Michel Lauriola. In September 2020, I was contacted by a producer who listened to one of my productions on the networks and there, everything started.

PAN M 360: Individuals capable of being both a DJ and a producer are relatively rare. You are one of those people with this ability. In my opinion, it’s a great potential that you exploit wonderfully. Your selections and your productions are almost similar. How do you feel about this yourself?

Isabel Soto : Yes, that’s true. There is a similarity. In truth, I saw DJing as an introduction to production because for me, it’s creation that attracts me the most, like in graphic design. I love giving shape to my ideas. I quickly felt limited in DJing and was captivated by the fact of wanting to create sound.

PAN M 360: Going through your SoundCloud, I see that you are a very prolific artist both in your productions and your DJ performances. How do you plan your work to be so productive?

Isabel Soto : (laughs!) I spend my time working! During the week, I am a graphic designer. On weekends, I’m a DJ and/or producer. I’m lucky to be working remotely often, so I can juggle from one project to another very quickly. The counterpart is a reduced social life. Unfortunately, I have much less time to socialize, to see my friends or to go out to events. But, it is the price to pay to concretize all my projects. I developed the ability to multitask all the time.

 PAN M 360: What machines or instruments do you use for your productions? Do you work alone or with others?

Isabel Soto : I mainly produce with Ableton and a synthesizer, the Korg minilogue. I learn every day to make better use of all the potential of these. Sometimes I call on producers to help me find solutions when I feel the need, for example, to learn how to mix my sound better. I also watch tutorials on YouTube.

PAN M 360: Where do you draw your influences for both your productions and your musical selections?

Isabel Soto : Blazej Malinowski was my first source of inspiration for learning production. Then, I can quote: Aleja Sanchez (Colombia), Pulso (Argentina), Marcelo Antonio (Argentina), FLAWS, Oscar Mulero. I am very influenced by what is happening in Argentina, in general.

PAN M 360: Your musical style is very marked by deep, hypnotic and mental techno. It’s a very European influence and we also find this genre in Latin countries. Personally, I find it very refreshing because in Montreal, the techno scene is rather dominated by a tendency to ultra fast and brutal BPM. How do you perceive the Montreal scene?

Isabel Soto : When I started in 2020, I felt demotivated because I felt like I wasn’t sticking to the general mood. It plunged me into a certain loneliness in Montreal until I met artists and/or collectives who were looking to develop this style of techno. For example, Mike Larry’s Arder collective, where I’m a resident DJ, tries to bring that style here. And so many others besides. Now I feel like the tide is turning. People like me can finally flourish and find their place on the Montreal scene.

PAN M 360: You shared the stage at the Igloofest Festival with the prodigious urtrax. How did you perceive that?

Isabel Soto : I still remain on the element of surprise. I received confirmation from Igloofest on my birthday. For me, this is and remains a great first. I try to take it as naturally as possible. No Police was on the same lineup as me and it comforted me to be with a friend. It was a great honor to play before urtrax. She is so young and so talented. She is just amazing! It makes me really happy.

Hailing from Chicago, Hiroko Yamamura has been immersed in electronic dance music since her teenage years. First as a raver, then as a DJ. After a long hiatus, she returned to the scene in a major way a few years ago, encouraged by her long-time friend Seth Troxler. An international ambassador for Chicago techno and house, she will share her musical legacy with Igloofest crowds at an “Après-ski” party at the PHI Center for the opening weekend of the festival.

PAN M 360 : I tried to find some information about you on the internet, and you are kind of mysterious. Can you tell me more about your background ?

Hiroko Yamamura : Sure. So I’ve been DJing and producing for a long time since high school. I don’t want to say exactly how old I am (laughs) but yes, I’ve been very much a raver. I used to go to parties in the late 1990’s early 2000s, grew up in Chicago. I was influenced by the scene there, I was really into comic books, video games, the futuristic aspects of techno like using hardware and computers to make music really drew me. Then I took a break for a while. It really came back in 2015, when I decided to start DJing. One of my friends Seth Troxler was really instrumental in encouraging me to start DJing again. I was having fun with that. After all locked down, I really started to figure out that I really missed it and I wanted to take it seriously and pursue it professionally.

PAN M 360 : You are from Chicago. The city is very well known for being the birthplace of several music genres. I can think of blues, jazz, gospel, of course, house music. Among those genres, is there one that you grew up listening to, and how did it influence you as a person but also as a DJ?

Hiroko Yamamura : Actually, the industrial music scene in Chicago has probably influenced me the most. There was a record label there called Wax Trax. Bands like Ministry, Front 242, a bunch of European industrial music bands that started coming out were based out of this small record label in Chicago. Wax Trax also had a store there, so it’s a record store as well as a record label. It was kind of a hangout spot, too. You’d go there, buy concert tickets, you knew about the rave parties that were going on. The industrial music scene was very much influenced by kind of Gothic music, rock music, dance music, it was this big mix of all that with a very Chicago attached to it. Besides that, of course, house was a big influence. On the radio in Chicago, I think some of the best DJs were featured, it’s very much part of the culture.

PAN M 360 : Scenes have evolved since, how would you describe the electronic dance music scene and the music community in Chicago nowadays?

Hiroko Yamamura: I would say, there’s some pluses and minuses to Chicago. It’s a big city and it’s a working class city. It is a city that has segregation issues, so people from different areas like different things. There’s social economical differences, as well as when you’re in the music industry, and you and your friends are doing something, maybe don’t include everybody, right? It’s just you and your friends. One of the positive and negative things about Chicago is people work in pockets like that, so there’s a separation. But because of that, each neighborhood, each area develop their own sound. There is a west side scene, and there is a North Side scene… There is just different pockets in house music, some will call it “all house”, or some people all call it house. You would not think they are the same genre, because they developed under their own circumstances. They have their own sound, because everyone kind of has this attitude that, well, if people aren’t interested in what you’re doing, then you just go off and do it yourself. That’s kind of the Chicago attitude and I think that’s what’s given us the ability to have really interesting sounds, very DIY, but at the same time, it keeps the group from working together towards a singular goal. It makes the music great, it might not make the business aspects of it great.

PAN M 360 : How are those scenes organized ? Is it more club scenes or warehouse parties and raves?

Hiroko Yamamura : Especially after lockdown, the night fight life scene really suffered. We’ve seen a lot of closures, a lot of clubs still haven’t caught up to pay rent, for being close for years. So, you know, sometimes the music that is being played at clubs today is there to get people there, because they have to pay rent, they have to pay the bartenders and maybe the risks that they were taking before locked down aren’t there anymore. Additionally, back a long time ago, Chicago was one of the first cities to actually start what’s called the rave ordinates, it specifically outlawed raves. If you’re a DJ participating in a rave you can go to jail and face big consequences. That’s why it is very hard to have underground parties. There’s always going to be small little parties with a 100 people or maybe 20 people at someone’s house in a basement having a good time. Chicago doesn’t have this big kind of club, warehouse, underground culture like other cities. I think it also comes down to money. We’re not a rich city, or rich people. The amount of disposable income influences what people are able to do, like in New York or Los Angeles, people have a different amount of money to spend on stuff like that. The promoters have different amount of money, they can risk on events. They can have an undergraduate party and have an international DJ come in and if it gets shut down, they’re not going to be financially ruined for the rest of their lives. In Chicago, that would be a life changing recipe, so it changes what we’re able to do. Bigger companies have moved in, so to go and see a popular international DJ, you’re probably going to an expensive club in Chicago unfortunately.

PAN M 360 : In your artist biography, you talk about music as an heritage. Can you tell me more about your approach of it ?

Hiroko Yamamura : One of the key factors of being a DJ is you have to love music, and you have to be obsessed with it. It’s got to be almost problematic, like you’ve spent your lunch money on this record you really want. Throughout your life, from when you started listening to music, your story is all this music you’ve listened to, that moves you. It may be pop music, maybe some of it is underground, but probably nobody has listened to all the same music that you have. That combination, that’s your story. I think part of that is passing that on through your vision. To me there’s all these artists, wonderful musicians and visual art that also influenced me, for example, because the movie is so great, I love the song and it’s hard to separate those things. Whether it’s talking about it, or going up and playing it, it’s about sharing your likes. You are kind of saying : this is what I like, this is what moves me, what helps me feel better. So to me, that’s the ultimate heritage.

PAN M 360 : Is it your first time playing in Montreal? How do you feel about playing at Igloofest ?

Hiroko Yamamura : I played at Stereo club last year with my friend Seth Troxler, it was my first time in Montreal. I am super excited, super intimidated to play Igloofest. When I first heard about Igloofest and saw the videos of people dancing outside in the snow in the cold weather, I thought this is crazy. That’s such an exciting thing that people like embrace this idea! To me, as a foreigner and as a tourist it feels very Canadian, like an authentic Canadian experience.

Do we really need to introduce Josh Wink anymore? Producer, renowned DJ and co-founder of Ovum Recordings, Wink is one of those who helped establish the North American rave scene of the early 1990s. His label will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2024. The secret to his career longevity? A never-ending love for musical discoveries and an ever-renewed pleasure in playing to enthusiastic crowds. To celebrate his fourth visit to Igloofest, PAN M 360 met him for an exclusive interview, starting from his teenage years all the way to the future of electronic music scene.

PANM 360 : You were born in Philadelphia in 1970, when disco was big and popular. “Philadelphia soul”, the “Philly sound” had a big impact on music internationally. Was the Philadelphia Soul sound a part of your music education and did it play a role in building or developing your taste for electronic music later on?

Josh Wink : Before 10 years old, even so, I was not so much into the disco sound. I was kind of influenced by things that my family brought to me. My father was heavily into classical music, Bach, Beethoven, things like that. My mother was into kind of world music and my brother was more into like rock’n’roll, Arlo Guthrie, David Bowie, Grateful Dead. He turned me on to Kraftwerk which changed my life. I didn’t really get involved in more musical knowledge up until I was in my early teenage years when I wanted to be a radio DJ. When I started with being a mobile DJ, doing weddings and bar mitzvahs and things like this, I started becoming more inquisitive and curious about different kinds of music, especially a music that came out of Philadelphia.The music appreciation for disco and soul from Philadelphia came when I became a little bit more of a seasoned teenager that was open to all different kinds of music.

I kind of got involved in, you know, the Philly International sound of Billy Paul, Archie Bell & the Drells, Dexter Wansel, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, Leon Huff, Lou Rawls, Patti LaBelle, MFSB, Teddy Pendergrass… all the the Philly people. We were always in the shadow of New York and Detroit, musically. New York was more famous for disco music than where it came from, like Philadelphia, where the strings were recorded by a guy named Larry Gold. Even people like David Bowie came here to do strings because of the disco sound. You know, the Vince Montana, the Larry Gold string sound that came out of Philadelphia and that the world took on from there. But we would get lost in the shadow of New York because it was so big and it was where Studio 54 and all these other clubs were. And we are also in the shadow of Motown of Detroit. Philly International was so important for the world, but also important for Philadelphia.

PAN M 360 : We often associate cities with signature sounds. In the 1990’s you started travelling to DJ, what can you tell me about the influences of East Coast cities’ music on your evolution ?

Josh Wink : I grew up in Philadelphia and started deejaying as a young teenager, 13, 14, 15 years old and I would go to block parties and hear Jazzy Jeff and Cash Money do the whole transformation of making hip-hop and turntablism into a worldwide phenomenon, based in Philadelphia. Once again, we were in the shadow of New York, even when it came to hip hop, even though we had a big scene in Philadelphia. First, it affected Philadelphia and New York, and then even DC had the go-go sound. So that was the first aspect of being influenced for me, and I would say hip hop music is in really regard as electronic music, even though originally it started with electronics, taking two records and the break of the records and mixing them together and extending the break, and then emcees on it, or using drum machines and samplers to make hip hop music. But this was a very important thing for the the East Coast. Now with electronic music dance music, New York was known for disco and house, Detroit isn’t known as it’s not an East Coast city, so that wouldn’t be part of it, even though it was very important with the birthplace of techno music. During the rave days there was not necessarily a signature sound. I mean there was a sound coming out of Baltimore which I’m just blanking on it right now. There was a New Jersey house sound that started at Zanzibar with Tony Humphries and that was a big and important. Philadelphia had disco, but it wasn’t really known for house, een though house music came from disco and R&B.

PAN M 360 : What about Montreal, do you remember the first time you came here ?

Josh Wink : I’m not 100% sure, but I think I came to Toronto before Montreal, in 1991 or 92. There was a party called Sweet Harmony or something like that, it was in the early rave days. I used to come up to play in Montreal in Toronto quite a bit during the early 90s and mid 90s and I always loved it. I mean, Montreal is one of my favorite cities in North America. It’s like a little Europe that’s not so far away. I was very fortunate to have been part of the early rave days and early club scene in Montreal and Toronto. I remember playing with a friend of mine who was a just a rave DJ by the name of Tiga, which who you probably know of, and I became friends with him. He would use to come out and hear me play and then I ended up playing a couple of small gigs with him just for the fun of it, just to hang out with him, I think at a club called Angel.

PAN M 360 : How would you describe your relationship with Montreal ?

Josh Wink : As I said there was this like European feeling in a North American city and I love the openness that separated itself from any other city in Canada, let alone in North America as well. I used to like to come and play parties, and then go to the after party on and I used to go straight from the the rave or the nightclub to the Tam-tams on Mont-Royal, to be surrounded by people and like-minded music enthusiasts, just drumming early morning on Sunday morning. That was always something that was just so special to me. I always said that if Montreal wasn’t located in Montreal, I’d move there, meaning if it wasn’t so cold all the time, I would love to say I live in Montreal. But as I get older, I get more sensitive to the cold weather and I want to move even out of Philadelphia and get someplace warm.

PAN M 360 : Friday night you play at Igloofest, marking your 4th participation to this festival. Is there anything special about this event that makes you happy to come back every time ?

Josh Wink : It’s always been a highlight for me to come and play this festival. It’s very unique just because of its place, its setting. You know, it’s one of the only ones in the world that does something like this that’s outside, in the winter time, where you guys are just enjoying and living life in the cold, in the snow, in the rain, and under the elements with a world variety of musicians to entertain you. I’ve always had such a great time when I’ve come and played for the festival. I checked the weather yesterday and I saw that it’s supposed to be snowing tomorrow too. It’s even more special when it snows during Igloofest !

PAN M 360 : You are a DJ, a producer and you also cofounded your own label back in 1994, Ovum Recordings, and it’s still pretty active. Music industry changed a lot in the last 30 years, what are the biggest challenges you face today as a label manager?

Josh Wink : The biggest part of the problem I find with music lately is just the fact that there’s so much content out there now. It’s a great thing because I love music and I love artists and I love being introduced to new sounds and new things. But it’s just so difficult to be able to find things and then how do you support them? We’ve been releasing music for a long time and we still try to keep our sound to be relevant without compromising our integrity and putting out music that we don’t want to just because everybody else is doing it. We have lots of different artists that we’re still putting out, we put out one to two records, we still press up vinyl on certain releases. A big part of what we do is that we take pride in just releasing the music that we want. That’s a part of our lives without compromising our integrity. We’re not saying we’re not opened to change but just because the trend is making fast techno doesn’t mean that we’re going to do the same thing. Sometimes it’s a good thing, sometimes it’s not. Now, every year comes around and we don’t make money and you know; we just keep on pushing on and pushing on and it’s very frustrating. But we keep doing it and it’s been almost 30 years, so it’s been amazing to see everything change and progress regardless of the record label, but to the music industry itself.

PAN M 360 : You say the biggest challenge is the amount of content available, and streaming platforms, those enormous dematerialized music libraries, are a good example. What are your favorites channels to discover music ?

Josh Wink : I do a lot of discovering. I listen to the BBC. They have an application called BBC Sounds and it has all the BBC in England’s radio stations available for you for live streaming and or going back and checking out the shows that are curated and kept for a month in the cloud storage. In the mornings when I get my sons breakfast I get up at around 5:45 in the morning and I listen to a DJ named Mary Anne Hobbs. I love getting turned on to the music that these shows present. I love this feeling. I’m happy it hasn’t left my conscious after being involved in music for so many years. I also listen to NTS, Radio Nova or Open Lab FM.

PAN M 360 : Your answer really highlights the importance of curation and the importance of curators in the process of discovering new music. It can be the radio, music critics (journalism), or even algorithm nowadays.

Josh Wink : I think it’s such an important thing to have someone like a building curator, which is a filter. It’s like having a personal shopper or the guy who the girl who works behind the desk at the at the record shop where you go buy yours. They know what you like and when you come in, they’ll give you a handful of records and say “here you go, you may want yo check these out, because I know what your tastes are”. There’s an AI alternative, those algorithms that are made-up so that when you use Spotify or Apple music, it will link your music to the similar things and I think this is a neat thing, but it’s nice to have a human quality to it as well, rather than just a computer program.

PAN M 360 : When you talk about the struggles of putting out music today, I feel the dominant business model in the music industry is not sustainable for independent artists. Do you think community-based initiatives like crowdfunding, subscription-based crowdfunding, or project like Aslice launched by DVS1 can be a way to find solutions for the future of electronic music scene?

Josh Wink : I don’t know. I mean, it’s a good way to think about it. I think there’s a lot of people that want to help out and support and they do that by going out and buying tickets to events where artists that they appreciate are playing. What Zack (DVS1) is doing is a great thing, he is trying to help the small person get a slice of royalties that is collected on something that they don’t get collection on. It’s nice to say that we have a community that’s support of our community. It’s a shame that it’s relying on the community to fund certain things, but if we have such a community that looks out for itself it’s because it’s a very unique one. I mean, it’s a bigger community than it ever used to be. Before it used to be a very small underground community where you would only know about it by going to the record shops or the small nightclubs. Now it’s available on any kind of Internet platform or radio or TV or festival. There’s a lot of people that go to festivals that don’t know anything about electronic music that just go because it’s a fun thing to do but hopefully they’ll learn about this kind of music and support it a little bit more. I know there’s a couple other record labels that go on subscription basis, we haven’t gone that route yet, but you know, maybe it’s something to look forward to, and it’s nice to hear that you’re bringing it up as well in this interview.

Crédit photo : François Quillacq

Gabriel Legeleux, alias Superpoze, nous a invité dans son studio pour parler de son dernier album, Nova Cardinale, sorti en mars dernier. De ce lieu à l’abris des regards au centre de Paris, sont sortis de terre des mondes multiples. De l’ordre du choix subtil des instruments (certains morceaux comportant plus d’une centaine de pistes), de la présentation scénique, à une approche des émotions en oblique, la proposition de Gabriel est riche et précise. Entre musique électronique et baroque, la gestation de cet album aura pris neuf mois, et son écriture plusieurs années. Gabriel raconte son travail de musicien en constante évolution, avec la projection de l’écriture d’un nouvel album en 2023.

PAN M 360 : Est-ce que tu peux me parler des machines qui t’accompagnent sur scène ?

Gabriel : Comme je passe de plus en plus de temps en studio, le format des racks dans lesquels on met toutes les machines, c’est une façon d’amener le studio sur scène. Je suis de dos, et je montre les machines et le geste musical.  

PAN M 360 : Tu t’en sers depuis longtemps ? Comment ça fonctionne ?

Gabriel : Non. Ce sont comme des synthé modulaires, mais sans le clavier. Il s’agit de la partie qui fait la synthèse, comme sur le principe d’une boîte à musique, mais géré par ordinateur, les partitions sont envoyées directement dans les machines. Moi je sculpte le son. C’est ça le principe du concert.

PAN M 360 : Ça diffère à chaque concert ?

Gabriel : Oui. Ce qui change c’est l’amplitude, la dynamique, ce qui permet l’improvisation. Je peux avec la table de mixage introduire ou non des instruments, fermer les filtres pour que ce soit doux, ajouter de la réverbération pour un effet vaporeux, ou au contraire très sec, pour les distordre.

PAN M 360 : Durant le concert, on est parcouru de frissons. Comment tu retranscris ça ?

Gabriel : Pour moi, faire un album ce n’est pas coucher une idée qui va ensuite être rejouée. C’est une finalité artistique qui ne peut pas être reproduite, c’est la vraie et seule existence d’un morceau. C’est ma façon de faire la musique. C’est plutôt retrouver une énergie de l’ordre de la partition, comme le travail d’un compositeur, c’est aussi une manière de reconnecter à mes origines musicales sur scène. Cet album est moins électronique que mes précédents et moi je viens vraiment de la musique électronique.

Superpoze et ses machines sur scène
Crédit Photo : Matisse Mazeau-Roy

PAN M 360 : Dans l’autre sens, quand as-tu su que tu t’arrêtais dans la phase de production de l’album ? Il y a un bon équilibre, il y a énormément de choses et à la fois il n’y a rien en trop ou en moins.

Gabriel : Tant mieux, ça me fait plaisir, c’est ce que j’ai cherché. Avant de commencer, j’avais en tête des principes d’arrangements, de types de sons, de sensations. Je voulais qu’on soit embarqué, avec l’idée d’espace. Je ne suis pas un explorateur qui défriche jusqu’à ce qu’il trouve. On m’a dit « là derrière cet océan » – J’ai regardé le docu sur Magellan l’autre jour, j’ai pété un câble – là derrière il y a quelque chose, et on va y aller.

PAN M 360 : Tu sais déjà ce qu’il y a au bout.

Gabriel : Oui, alors forcément la forme finale diffère de ce que t’as en tête et heureusement. Après, il y a une sensation, enfin ça s’appelle juste l’harmonie, quand tu as l’impression que les chose sont bien à leur place. Cette sensation de se dire, là, le château de cartes se tient. L’analogie avec l’exploration est basique mais j’aime bien. J’y vais en connaissance de ce que je pourrais trouver en espérant le trouver.

PAN M 360 : Cette musique renvoie aux mondes qu’on a en soi. Quand tu commences à écrire, tu es dans quel état ?

Gabriel : J’ai parlé de ça l’autre jour avec une autrice, Blandine Rinkel, qui me disait que certains auteurs ont besoin que leurs mots claquent, besoin de les dire à voix haute, et d’autres qui ont une écriture intérieure qui ne les reflète pas au quotidien. Leur écriture révèle ce monde. Je me suis reconnu là. Dans mon quotidien, je suis bavard, plutôt souriant, et je fais une musique très solennelle. Je crois qu’elle appartient, cette musique-là, à un monde intérieur.

PAN M 360 : Tu ne transfères pas d’émotions directement dans ce que tu composes ?

Gabriel : Ce qui me permet de faire une musique qui a un imaginaire fort, je l’espère en tout cas, c’est que je suis dans quelque chose de très pragmatique de construction de sons. Si je suis comme ça c’est parce que je sais que ça me permet de révéler un imaginaire au fond de moi dont je n’ai moi-même pas forcément les clés. Je mets en place des stratégies pour aller creuser au fond d’un imaginaire qui me surprend toujours. Je pense que c’est un imaginaire d’enfant. Mon approche est très adulte dans le son, mais si tu prends les émotions, il y a quelque chose de sensible.

PAN M 360 : Cet album sonne en profondeur.

Gabriel : Oui, et puis c’est un disque qui fait communiquer les époques, c’est un univers qui je l’espère est assez large. Il y a des vieux sages, des jeunes fous, des instruments du 16ème et des mélodies très 20ème et pop. Il y a des boîtes à rythme, une production faite en studio moderne.

Ce qui est intéressant avec les instruments anciens, c’est qu’ils n’étaient pas fabriqués de façon industrielle. Moi j’ai ce synthé (Prophet 6), c’est vendu par milliers. On croit être plus en marge en utilisant notre ordinateur pourtant c’est une pratique issue de l’industrie. Utiliser de la viole de gambe et des flûtes anciennes a quelque chose de rebelle.

PAN M 360 : Est-ce que ta propre écoute a changé depuis la sortie de Nova Cardinale ?

Gabriel : Pour moi oui, mais j’ai hâte que le temps passe. Le temps dépose sur la musique un vernis, la patine. Mon premier album je l’ai fait à 20 ans. Aujourd’hui, je trouve que c’est un album qui se tient comme un bloc de marbre, alors qu’à l’époque j’avais l’impression que c’était des petites brindilles.

PAN M 360 : Et concernant les retours des autres ? Dans Parabel j’entends un sentiment d’urgence puis une reprise de souffle.

Gabriel : Finalement c’est à moi de te poser la question. Dans la musique instrumentale, j’essaie de faire en sorte que les gens soient dedans. Que tu y aies vu de l’urgence, c’est que tu en as fait ton monde.

PAN M 360 : Toi tu ne l’as pas perçu comme ça.

Gabriel : Non, c’est terrible, mais pour moi c’est un morceau composé. Justement, le travail du musicien, c’est de fabriquer quelque chose qui va permettre à des gens de déposer un peu d’eux dessus, ou de faire miroir, de les envelopper. Moi je ne peux pas te dire « Parabel, le sous-texte c’est ça », ce serait artificiel de faire croire que c’est une façon de m’exprimer. Là je m’exprime avec toi, mais ça, c’est un monde fabriqué, dans lequel on peut déposer ses joies et ses peines.

PAN M 360 : Ton album m’a fait réécouter la BO de l’Assassinat de Jessie James.

Gabriel : Elle est très belle cette BO.

PAN M 360 : Tu es plutôt touché par ce type de musique ?

Gabriel : Le point commun de tout ce que j’aime c’est une certaine profondeur. J’aime bien sentir que c’est vaste. Je sens ça dans la musique de Nick Cave. Avant j’écoutais beaucoup Boards of Canada. Le son n’a rien à voir, mais ça partage une horizontalité. Ça, ça me fait vibrer en musique.

PAN M 360 : Tu aimes cette notion d’espace.

Gabriel : Voilà. En musique baroque j’entends ça, chez Jon Hopkins aussi.

PAN M 360 : J’entends aussi Floating Points dans ta musique.

Gabriel : Oui, j’adore. Il a ça aussi, qu’il fasse des choses archi-dansantes ou des albums très calmes, il a cette profondeur-là.

PAN M 360 : La répétition te sert à ça ?

Gabriel : Complètement. La répétition permet de dire je suis quelque part, et pas toujours « je vais quelque part ».

PAN M 360 : Tu tournes encore ?

Gabriel : Il y aura quelques concerts mais je fais des musiques de film et je travaille pour d’autres artistes. Je vais assez vite faire un quatrième, cette année. Je me suis créé un espace, je suis bien ici, c’est calme. Voilà. Je vais faire de la musique.

The COVID hit the Molinari Quartet just before Christmas, so much so that the ensemble had to reschedule this rich program entitled Acoustic Exploration.

Made up of the most daring and avant-garde modern and contemporary works, the menu proposed next Wednesday calls upon the genius of the Polish Krzysztof Penderecki, the Hungarian Belà Bartok, the Romanian (of Greek background) Iannis Xenakis, whose 100th birthday was in 2022, but also the singular proposals of composers born at the gates of the Orient, namely the Iranian Showan Tavakol and the Azeri Franghiz Ali-Zadeh.

First violinist, artistic director and founder of the Molinari Quartet, Olga Ranzenhofer provides us with some insight into these works before their performance, scheduled for January 18, 7:30 p.m., at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal.

PAN M 360: We discussed this program very briefly last September in the context of the Molinari Quartet’s entire season, let’s be more specific this time with the program Exploration sonore / Acoustic Exploration.

OLGA RANZENHOFER: When I chose the theme Sound Odyssey/ Odyssée sonore (performed last fall), I had already forgotten that I had previously found the title Acoustic Exploration/ Exploration sonore (laughs). But there is a common thread between the two programs, Odissey & Exploration, because some music is played in each. So we start the concert with an exploratory work by Penderecki, his Quartet No.1 composed in the 60s. The “sonorism”, an avant-garde tendency in Poland, was in full swing at that time. It was not necessary about making real notes, it was completely free! So it’s great noise… you tap your left hand on the strings, on the instrument, there are col legnos, pizzicatos and other effects. It’s a very powerful work that begins with noise and is then punctuated by these pizzicatos that grow in size. So there is a variety of proposals in a solid structure.

PAN M 360: So this was at the peak of Penderecki’s experimental period!

OLGA RANZENHOFER: Kind of, and it must be said that his score is very beautiful to watch, you have to obey unconventional signs and that creates a kind of tension in the performers. They have to play intensely while deciphering. The execution is not thought notated in bars but in seconds, there is a time line and every 5 seconds. Within these sequences, a vertical line separates each second and the notes fit in these intervals illustrated by these lines. You may then have to play at the beginning, middle or end of this interval. And there is a lot of randomness, a lot of freedom in the interpretation. As much as the score is very precise in time, there is a lot of leeway in the execution. We really appreciate this piece that was originally conceived for the LaSalle Quartet and that we also recorded.

PAN M 360: There is no easy way out, since you have chosen Xenakis’ “Ergma” to mark the 100th anniversary of his birth – on May 29, to be precise.

OLGA RANZENHOFER: We start with Penderecki’s sonorism and then move on to Xenakis, whose work is incredibly dense. Sometimes it sounds like we’re an octet! The instruments often play two notes at a time, often sevenths. It is a block of sound that demands great intensity from its performers. The rhythm is slow, peppered with plated chords.  Really interesting, but not easy to play this Xenakis! In any case, it is a good introduction to this “mono-block” work, which includes a viola solo that plays fortissimo while the others play piano and make small interventions. Towards the end, we each play a note, a sort of lightening before we resume the octet effect.  It creates a kind of uneasiness haha! A whole course.

PAN M 360: Then we move to the East, more precisely to Iran, with this composer who has settled in Montreal for his graduate studies.

OLGA RANZENHOFER: Showan Tavakol is doing his doctorate in composition in Montreal with Ana Sokolovic, and has composed for us a piece that he entitled Modal Hologram in several movements.  From him, we propose this “Creation for quartet and kamancheh”. Showan, it must be said, is a virtuoso of this Persian hurdy-gurdy, played vertically. The work is thus conceived for quartet and kamancheh – two movements are planned with the soloist and the others for quartet alone. We explore Iranian modal music, which includes quarter tones or even two-thirds tones. We try to change our sound to meet the composer’s goal of merging his own traditions with contemporary Western music.

PAN M 360: From Iran we go to Azerbaijan.

OLGA RANZENHOFER: The work of the composer Franghiz Ali-Zadeh was written for Kronos Quartet, shortly after the tragic death of the son of the violinist David Harrington – musical director of the Kronos. It is more Western writing than that of her colleague, but it manages to bridge the gap between Western music and that of the desert territories of Azerbaijan. In this spirit, the work is entitled “Oasis”, which the composer herself describes as a place of calm, rest, refuge. The piece includes a recording with sounds of water drops, a song of the” gazelles of love”, of Iranian inspiration… I can hear the sound of caravans in the desert, I can perceive a human hubbub as we approach the oasis. And then we get there, aaaah! I also must say that it can have a double meaning, in the context of the deadly tragedy that occurred during the composition. The drops of water can also be tears…

PAN M 360: And we conclude with Bartok, his fantastic String Quartet No.3.


OLGA RANZENHOFER: We play recent works in this program: 1960, 1994, 2022 and… 1927! This piece by Bartok is of great modernity, it is the string quartet where he went the furthest in his research, with very particular effects for the time, and a very tight counterpoint. The second part arrives at the moment of the recapitulation of the first, this one arrives just before the recapitulation of the 2nd and so on. Everything is interwoven, tightly knit, it’s really great. A great sound exploration in 1927. So it will be a beautiful concert!

PROGRAM :

Krzysztof Penderecki: Quartet No. 1

Iannis Xenakis : Ergma

Showan Tavakol: Creation for Quartet and Kamancheh

Franghiz Ali-Zadeh : Oasis

Béla Bartók : Quartet No 3

FOR INFO AND TICKETS, IT’S HERE

An interdisciplinary artist, Jean Grünewald leads several projects simultaneously. Under his Christian name, he explores experimental and acoustic sounds through sound installations. With the alias Ottoman Grüw, he is DJ, producer and artistic director of the committed techno compilations Dance Across Borders. The concept ? Bring together local and international artists to raise funds which are donated to the association Solidarité sans frontières. The six tracks of volume 3 explore breakbeat, electronica, acid or trance.

PAN M 360: Tell us about the genesis of the Dance Across Borders project.

Ottoman Grüw  : The project started on the first of September of the pandemic, in 2020. With Louis Paulhus of the late Mes Enceintes Font Défaut (MEFD) we decided to launch this compilation project to recreate a form of connection, a platform to put in before the artists of the local Montreal scene and the different political values ​​that go with it. This compilation is like a moment when you can live with other people, even people you don’t know.

PAN M 360: Unlike the first two volumes, you were able to bring this third compilation to life in the evening as soon as it was released…

Ottoman Grüw  : Yes, we had a launch party in a Montreal church basement that is managed by an organization, the Milton Park Food Bank. It is one of the neighborhoods in Montreal where there is the most homelessness, especially among the Aboriginal population. The people running it are also connected to the industrial gothic punk scene. They organize events from time to time to raise funds. The money raised during the evening was donated half to the Food Bank and half to Solidarité sans frontières, which is the organization with which the compilations were born. 

PAN M 360: This choice to publish compilations registered in charities, when was it made?

Ottoman Grüw  : Right from the start. It was also a way to raise certain political issues related to this kind of music that have always been present. Sometimes we arrive in environments where they are a little less so, with this project it was to put them forward. 

PAN M 360: As a rave participant, have you experienced any moments that you perceive as political or politicized?

Ottoman Grüw  : I have memories that go back to the first raves I attended when I was 17 in Paris. The somewhat striking moments were those when I was confronted with realities other than my own. The space to live together that is built during a rave makes it possible to bear witness to the existence of other people and therefore to tell oneself that despite the differences, we manage to live together.

PAN M 360: Are there any social causes to which you are particularly sensitive?

Ottoman Grüw  : Of course they are all somewhat intertwined. We hear “end of the month, end of the world, same fight”, it resonates. Struggles that I have been sensitive to, whether through the friends I have made, the places in which I have been able to live or that I have been able to visit, these are migration issues, border issues and the political and economic infrastructure behind it. Whether it’s the coast guard boats in the Mediterranean, the wall in the Gaza Strip, or the wall as the US-Mexico border. The list is long.

PAN M 360: What is your artistic vision for a compilation exercise like this?

Ottoman Grüw  : Whether for this volume or for the previous ones, it can be more or less eclectic, but there is still a guiding thread, in my opinion. For this volume, there were artists from Vienna and Tokyo. It’s interesting because they are artists who belong to different scenes. They can come from the techno rave scene, from the gothic punk industrial scene, as there are some who are more from bass music, breakbeat, jungle, etc. And this convergence works very well.

PAN M 360: Several local, one-off and long-term projects have a charitable dimension (rave events at the SAT in March 2022, MFC Records compilations). In your opinion, what place does the charity have in the Montreal electronic scene?

Ottoman Grüw  : I would say that in that environment, in Montreal, there is still a political culture associated with it, which is not necessarily the case everywhere. With the size and density of the city, I also have the impression that it echoes. We often meet the same people at events so perhaps the initiatives that go in the direction of charity have a ricochet effect.

Turbine is the association of three French DJs and producers based in Montreal, determined to shake up the codes of scratch music with a project at the crossroads of EDM and the performative dimension of turntablism. 

Both the French and American scratch music traditions have their roots in hip-hop culture and the use of turntables as a musical instrument. In the United States, scratch music played an important role in the early development of hip-hop and in the emergence of other electronic music genres, such as techno and house. 

In France, scratch music has also been an important part of the electronic music scene, but it has evolved differently. It is sometimes seen as more closely related to the club scene, influenced by genres such as drum and bass, funk and jazz, which has given it a distinct sound and flavor, as exemplified by the groups Chinese Man and C2C. Turbine wishes to differentiate itself from this heritage by exploring sounds belonging to bass music. 

The trio competed against the best turntablists in the world at the DMC 2022 Championship a few months ago and came in fourth place, an excellent performance for an emerging group. PAN M 360 took the opportunity to interview Benjamin, Nico and Tony as they have just self-produced their first single, Warm Up, and are in the middle of preparing a live show for 2023.  

https://turbinescratchmusic.bandcamp.com/track/warm-up
Copyright Bruno Destombes

PAN M 360: Can you introduce yourself in a few words and your role in the group?

Benjamin: I started djing at 17. I quickly got into hip-hop production and it quickly deviated to drum and bass, then to electro. I got really passionate about production, mixing and sound design techniques. Eight years ago, I arrived in Montreal as a video game sound designer. My role in the band is mainly to produce. 

Nico: Nico or DJ Noyl, I don’t produce at all or very little, I’m more of a hip-hop DJ by training, then I also knew electro afterwards. Now my career is a mix of DJing and scratching with bands or collectives. The year before the covid more than half of my gigs were scratching in shows. 

Tony: In the band, I do a lot of the technical stuff and make sure everything works. I do scratch thanks to Benjamin who showed me that about 20 years ago and when I came to Montreal about 10 years ago, he joined me. Otherwise professionally I am a sound designer, and I do sound editing. 

PAN M 360: Benjamin and Tony, you have known each other for a long time. Nico, how did you come into the equation?

Nico: That’s a good question. I guess by scratching, we must have crossed paths at events. 

PAN M 360: Precisely, what can you tell me about the scratch scene in Montreal, what are the important places?

Nicolas: There are quite a few scratchers. There are monthly events with a live band and then like four or five turntables and then you can go scratching open decks in a bar. It’s a small platform for everyone. There’s pretty much every level. The problem is that the scratch community doesn’t have a lot of spaces to meet. There are a few events. We find scratch music in Franco fest, because Monzo, who manages that, he is a bit plugged anyway. So during the all-nighter, he has a spot during the Franco, he has a spot and a kind of hip-hop table on Sainte-Catherine street. Otherwise there was the Killa Jewel concert at Ausgang. Except for the West Shefford, which offers us a place every Sunday, there are not so many fixed events or big parties like in the old days when I arrived. 

Benjamin: The 180g used to host parties too sometimes.

PAN M 360: In the context, what pushed you to create the Turbine project?

Nico: The desire! And then there is a lack. It’s a memory of a Facebook status from 10 years ago that started the thing that came back on my wall where I said, it’s weird, there is no scratch. And then I sent a message to Benjamin and Tony. Two days later, we had a beer, two days later, we were in rehearsal. It was done quite quickly.

PAN M 360: How does your creative process work?

Tony: It’s not a very traditional creative process compared to a rock or rap band where you come up with an instrumental version, lyrics, you sing, you record, it makes a single, then you pile up singles, it makes an album. It’s more complicated in the sense that we start by producing tracks, we redistribute the music to reappropriate it to be able to play it, so that it’s pleasant to listen to and to see. The goal of the project, the vision of the project, it is, it is to make something, a true show in live, it is what is rather powerful. And it’s nice to watch a show, you know, not just 3 guys pushing records.

Nico: Except for the first single “Warm Up” that we produced together, for the moment all the productions we use are Benjamin’s. We need to put together an hour of music. We need to put together an hour of live music pretty quickly and as Tony says, it’s a very slow process. We have to produce, do triple exports to share them the first time; re-export them to put them on vinyl, because we have to place the sounds in certain places to be able to scratch them. After that, we have to work dozens and dozens of times so that it fits and you can’t hear the scratches too much. It’s a lot of work. 

PAN M 360: Is it particular to want to make scratch music without letting you hear the characteristic sounds of scratching (attacks, etc.)?

Tony: The goal of the game is to keep it musical, danceable and accessible and listenable.

Nico: Yes, it should not be scratched. I had Skills, who is the DMC world champion, listen to our single “Warm Up.” He told me – even though he is scratch champion – “there is too much scratch”. Because he understood the intention we had, which was to make a hyper dancing thing, to listen to in your living room, but the most possible to dance. So we try not to do too much or to be as musical as possible with the scratch, not to be too technical.

PAN M 360: Did you adopt the same approach for the DMC World Championship 2022 in which you participated and won the 4th place?

Nico: The DMC you can spread a little more. But the same thing if you put too much… Besides you have four judges watching you and they will see the mistakes, it is better to do less. Our 6 min DMC is our 25 min compressed show. We adapted it to be more visual, that’s why we change more decks, we move around. It was very electronic for the DMC what we did anyway, too much maybe. The intention was to show our tracks and I think there are a lot of people who didn’t understand that they were our tracks. After that it was good publicity, it’s good on the resume, we represented Canada at the world championship, so it’s still cool!

Beginning and ending with a similar aria, the famous variations were written by Johann Sebastian Bach for his pupil Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, who was to play them for the insomniac Count Herman Karl von Keyserling in order to soothe him into a restful sleep.

Nearly three centuries after their composition, the Goldberg Variations are among the most frequently performed works for the keyboard. A recent phenomenal performance was given by the great Hungarian pianist András Schiff at the Bach Festival last October at the Maison Symphonique. 

Let us now embrace the orchestral extrapolation of this fantastic work, another demonstration of JSB’s contrapuntal genius. So ?  Do JS Bach’s Goldberg Variations retain their intrinsic qualities when adapted for instruments other than early keyboards, organ or piano? 

This question has already been answered: thanks to its founder and original maestro Bernard Labadie, Les Violons du Roy have been eloquently demonstrating this since 1999. And they’re doing it once again this Sunday at the Bach Festival with maestro Nicolas Ellis, who has just been appointed Principal Guest Conductor for a three-year period beginning next September.

For PAN M 360 readers, Ellis explains the issues of this adaptation.

PAN M 360: Is this orchestral adaptation an aesthetic problem? Usurpation, or heresy, according to the purists? 

NICOLAS ELLIS: I personally believe that the Goldberg Variations is much more than a work for this or that instrument. It’s an extraordinary counterpoint and it’s also interesting to appreciate it in string trio, in string orchestra, for other formations. So it’s a great adventure to embark on Bernard Labadie’s project, especially since the musicians of the orchestra have been playing these arrangements for the last 20 years and have also played the string trio version.

PAN M 360: How does it work to adapt a piano work for string orchestra?

NICOLAS ELLIS: We start with the idea that the counterpoint and harmony of this piece go far beyond a single instrument. An adaptation for orchestra can therefore shed a different light on the work. It should be remembered that the Goldberg Variations were arranged for a string trio by Dmitri Sitkovetski (1985) and this adaptation has been performed several times since. Based on this same idea, Bernard Labadie decided to make an arrangement for string orchestra. The arrangement was performed by Les Violons du Roy in 1999 and recorded in 2000.

PAN M 360: From trio to string orchestra, the order was considerable!  More precisely, what was the challenge?

NICOLAS ELLIS: First of all, it was to make the Goldberg Variations sound as if they had been written for string orchestra. When, for example, a variation offers two-note polyphony, Bernard can add extra notes to the arrangement to “pump up” the harmony. He can distribute the notes of this piece to the instruments in a way that brings out the harmony properly. If, for example, we start with 4 instruments and then all of a sudden it falls to two or three voices, we must create lines for the instruments that suddenly no longer play the original score but that must continue to play so that we understand that it is indeed an orchestral discourse. The ornaments of the score for the keyboard alone can also be transformed into arrangements.

But when you transpose this to strings, it’s not just a matter of adding an instrument during a measure to cover all the notes on the keyboard, but rather of finding a way to diversify the proposal from one variation to another in different configurations, whether with two musicians, three musicians, a string orchestra, etc. 

The idea, in short, is that this adaptation for orchestra needs to be idiomatic, as if it were a concerto grosso with moments when the entire orchestra expresses itself and others when a limited number of instruments or soloists do so. A colossal work done by Bernard Labadie!

PAN M 360: Today, this transformation of classical works is uncommon. What is your perception?

NICOLAS ELLIS: It should be remembered that this was a widespread practice in the Baroque period, it happened frequently to Bach himself to transform a violin concerto into a concerto for keyboards, to take a suite for orchestra and make a duet, to take old movements of cantatas and integrate them into his St. Matthew Passion, or to quote other composers in his works. There was no such notion of intellectual property in his time, one could take music composed by others and interweave it into a different work. What Bernard Labadie did would not have seemed strange at all, in the baroque era. 

PAN M 360: Has his adaptation evolved since 1999? 

NICOLAS ELLIS: Yes. Bernard has been able to change the arrangement slightly over time, and it’s really great what he’s been able to accomplish. It sounds like it was written for a string orchestra, it really sounds like a concerto grosso.

PAN M 360: What is the role of the maestro in this context?

NICOLAS ELLIS: My role is very pleasant at the time when my position as principal guest conductor of Les Violons du Roy is announced. It’s like my collaboration with Les Violons du Roy: an exchange. I humbly try to bring my grain of salt to what this orchestra does best. It is also an opportunity for me to welcome and better understand this tradition that has been built up over nearly 40 years. So my three-year term will begin in September 2023. This year already I am doing three different programs. Since my first collaboration in 2018, I have been lurking around Les Violons du Roy more and more! 

PAN M 360: What was your knowledge of the work as a conductor?

NICOLAS ELLIS: This is the first time I’ve personally tackled the Goldberg Variations and it’s exciting to do it with Les Violons du Roy, experienced musicians who know the work well. These musicians remain very open and curious in the collective work to find their own interpretation of this piece.  This is the image of collaboration and exchange that we want to develop together, as the first guest conductor.

PAN M 360: How difficult is it for a conductor to direct such an adaptation?

NICOLAS ELLIS: Honestly, I would say that conducting the Goldberg Variations for orchestra is a joy because everything is already so well conceived! When you read the score, however, it’s intimidating to be in front of such a genius. One must remain humble! When you look at it, you understand why it was played so much. It’s a huge masterpiece of musical literature, and you have to get the whole picture, understand the journey behind it, and how to make each variation your own, so that they all have something to say. When you hear the aria at the end, you have to have this feeling of having lived a great journey.

PROGRAM

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
The Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 arranged for strings and continuo by Bernard Labadie

ARTISTS

Les Violons du Roy
Nicolas Ellis, conductor
Pascale Giguère, Noëlla Bouchard, Nicole Trotier, Véronique Vychytil, First violins
Pascale Gagnon, Angélique Duguay, Michelle Seto, Maud Langlois, Second violins
Isaac Chalk, Annie Morrier, Jean-Louis Blouin, Violas
Benoit Loiselle, Raphaël Dubé, Cellos
Raphaël McNabney, Double Bass
Sylvain Bergeron, Theorbo
Mélisande McNabney, Harpsichord

Les Violons du Roy are performing at Church of St. Andrew & St. Paul (entrance on Sherbrooke), Sunday, 7:30 PM, November 27. Infos & Tickets HERE

Expressivity, vitality, integrity, high precision, these are all words that can be used to describe the Ensemble Masques, recognized throughout the world of baroque and early music, particularly in Europe. Founded two decades ago, Masques has come a long way since then. Along this way, many paths were taken and lead to JS Bach and this is the object of the program we are dealing with here.

The ensemble takes its name from a form of Renaissance high society entertainment that became popular at the court of King Henry VIII, the father of Queen Elizabeth, and continued into the Elizabethan era. A Masque was a lavish and dramatic entertainment involving poetry, drama, dance and music, often performed in verse by masked actors dressed as mythological or allegorical figures.

In this case, it is essentially a question of music: the Ensemble Masques is made up of high-level performers, whose six members have careers as soloists and/or performers in international early music ensembles and orchestras. The ensemble is directed by Montreal harpsichordist Olivier Fortin.

Masques is “transnational” in the sense that it is made up of Australian violinist Sophie Gent, Toronto violist Kathleen Kajioka, Montreal violist and cellist Mélisande Corriveau, Finnish violinist Tuomo Suni, Brussels bassist and violinist Benoît Vanden Bemden, and its Quebec musical director Olivier Fortin.

Beyond our local classical or baroque milieu, the Ensemble Masques is well known on the European circuit and still deserves to be better known on this side of the Atlantic. Here is an opportunity to acknowledge its great quality: this Thursday, the group performs at the Bach Festival after returning from a tour in Iceland where PAN M 360 joined Olivier Fortin to talk about the Montreal program presented this Thursday, November 24, at Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours in Old Montreal.

PAN M 360: The music of the 17th century is dominant in this program.

OLIVIER FORTIN: In fact, the first part of the concert covers works written in the mid to late 17th century while the second part is devoted to Bach. The idea is to trace the composers who influenced Bach’s work in the way they composed and used harmonic language. From more or less far from Bach, there were musical currents at the time, including that of France, notably the music of Lully, which took a large place on the European territory and which each one took up in his own way. So we open and close with a French suite by a German composer and we end with Bach who always went further than anyone else, in such a personal and brilliant way. We propose a journey towards Bach, in a way.

PAN M 360: From Georg Muffat (1653-1704), then, you open with Fasciculus I from Florilegium primum.

OLIVIER FORTIN: He was very much inspired by the French style. He was a follower of the music that was going on in Europe, but he didn’t have the genius of Bach. We open the concert with an orchestral suite, an overture and dances, and we end with another Bach suite, thus putting the rest of the program in brackets. The first part of the program consists of music older than Bach, while the second part begins with his son Wilhelm Friedemann. And we want to show that he still played a little bit in the style of his father but in a very different way in the language.

PAN M 360: If we go inside the program, we find ourselves with Giovanni Legrenzi (1626-1690), Sonata sesta – La Cetra (Venetia, 1673).

OLIVIER FORTIN: JS Bach met neither Muffat nor Legrenzi, nor any other composer on the program except his son, but their music reached Bach, since he had already written fugues on themes by Legrenzi. This powerful, rich and expressive Italian language influenced Bach in his youth.

PAN M 360: The next piece is by Johann Heinrich Schmelzer (1620/23 – 1680): ,

OLIVIER FORTIN: There you go, this is very beautiful, very moving lamento on the death of Ferdinand III, who was a great lover of music and patron of the arts, humanly close to the artists. We have played all this music, we are very comfortable playing it, it’s a bit like breathing. It’s part of our DNA. People often think it’s too old. But it’s extremely expressive. Schmelzer was a great violinist. He wrote hybrids that Bach took up and synthesized.

PAN M 360: What about the sonatas of Johann Rosenmüller (1617-1684)?

OLIVIER FORTIN: Rosenmüller composed in Germany, he was also a keyboardist and violinist. He had to escape secretly Germany for reasons of morals, a sort of me too with who knows whom. He ended up in Venice at the time of Legrenzi. He wrote in a style from which Bach took on certain forms.

PAN M 360: What about the Sonata XI Opus 1 (1695) by Romanus Weichlein (1652-1706)?

OLIVIER FORTIN: Weichlein was a Benedictine monk who was a student of the next composer on the program, Biber. This is music for violin that makes Biber’s music, very improvised, great passacaglias, music that makes the strings sound good. Weichlein spent his life as a monk in Austria. He belongs to the school of composers for virtuoso violins. This music has won us several prizes in Europe.

PAN M 360: And then we go to the master with the Sonata III, Fidicinium Sacro-Profanum (Nuremberg, 1683) by Heinrich Ignaz Biber (1644-1704).

OLIVIER FORTIN: There you go. We have seen what the student does, now we see what the master does. It is very difficult, harder than Weichlein who is difficult for the violin whereas Biber is difficult for all the voices in the ensemble. Very virtuoso.

PAN M 360: So we move on to the Bach family.

OLIVIER FORTIN: At first, we would have liked to play only orchestral suites by JSB but it was too many people to travel so we often do this suite by his son, we see how the French style is treated in Wilhelm Friedmann in another harmonic world than that of his father, pre-classical. The last movement is a fugue but different from those of his father, which does not take the same path. One feels that it is the end of something and we end with this suite in the French style, which is very well known by the master Bach.

PROGRAM

Georg Muffat (1653-1704)
Florilegium primum – Fasciculus I

Giovanni Legrenzi (1626-1690)
La Cetra – Venetia, 1673
Sonata sesta

Johann Heinrich Schmelzer (1620/23 – 1680)
Lamento sopra la morte Ferdinandi III

Johann Rosenmüller (1617-1684)
Sonate a 2, 3, 4 è 5 stromenti, da arco & altri – Nuremberg, 1682
Sonata nona à 5

Romanus Weichlein (1652-1706)
Opus 1 – 1695
Sonata XI

Heinrich Ignaz Biber (1644-1704)
Fidicinium Sacro-Profanum – Nuremberg, 1683
Sonata III

Wilhem Friedemann Bach (1710 – 1784)
Ouverture – Suite for orchestra, in g minor (formely attributed J.S. Bach, BWV 1070)

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Ouverture – Suite for orchestra, in D major BWV 1068

ARTISTS

Ensemble Masques
Olivier Fortin, harpsichord and conductor
Sophie Gent, Tuomo Suni, violins
Kathleen Kajioka, viola
Mélisande Corriveau, basse de viole & cello
Benoît Vanden Bemden, violone & contrebasse

L’ENSEMBLE MASQUES WILL PERFORM THIS THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 7:30 PM, AT THE CHAPELLE NOTRE-DAME-DE-BON-SECOURS. INFOS AND TICKETS, IT’S HERE

Madison McFerrin turned 31 a few days ago and she also ended her European Tour. Her soft voice and her sense of humour go with a thoughtful and kind spirit, turned towards people, the belief of music as a healer and the importance of being part of a community. Pan M 360 asked her some questions about her last few projects and her personal growth since the pandemic.

Pan M 360: In 2018, you were cited as a rising independent artist. Where are you now in this process?

Madison McFerrin: I am still independent, which I think is great. We are in a day and age where you can actually have a viable career and stay independent, so I really have been trying to build this in a sustainable manner, that’s where I am. The team has expanded, and new music is coming, so it’s definitely building wax.

Pan M 360: Alright, that’s great. Where and when did you learn to produce on your own?

Madison McFerrin: I really just started in the pandemic, so 2020 is really when it started. I was producing my acapella stuff but in terms of adding different instrumentation that really started during the pandemic, in my living room. Since we weren’t going out or anything, I was like “alright, here we are”.

Pan M 360: The EP “You+I” was made with your brother.

Madison McFerrin: Yes, he produced No Room, Try, Unwise, and Fallin, and I did Re:intro and Know you better.

Pan M 360: What did the collaboration with your brother bring you?

Madison McFerrin: Working with my brother is something I really wanted to do. I look up to him and I think he is incredible, you know, just sibling love. I appreciated.

Pan M 360: Speaking about Know you better, we talk about your vocal dexterity. How do you build your harmonies? Where do you pick your inspirations?

Madison McFerrin: I think my biggest inspiration is just life in general. I always start with chords first and whatever melodies I come up with are definitely also an inspiration. They kind of motivate what the topic is going to be about because since I write my melodies first, I really find the words that fit with the melody and that reveals what the song is from a lyrical standpoint when I write.

Pan M 360: About the song Stay Away, which came out recently, this is a mix of soul and house music. What are your current tastes and influences?

Madison McFerrin: A friend of mine who goes by the name L’rain. She is really incredible. I wrote the song before Beyonce’s album came out, but in terms of dance house music, this has been big for me at this moment. I think it is really fantastic. I am a big fan of Jamila Woods, and Nick Hakim. I am grateful that a lot of people that inspire me are also my friends.


Pan M 360: This song’s musical mood is contrasting with the topic. I saw you were very involved in mental health promotion. How much is this subject important to you?

Madison McFerrin: It’s majorly important to me, especially now. In this time, we are still living through a pandemic, there’s a lot of collective grief and trauma and I don’t think a lot of us have been able to process, especially in the United States, you know there’s been a big emphasis on just getting back to work and getting back to life as usual without allowing people the space to really process what we have gone through. I mean over a million people have died in the United States and people have lost their entire families you know the idea that we are just supposed to move on is pretty sick in my opinion. For me, music helps contribute to my positive mental health and I recognize that it is true for so many other people and so I really see myself and my music as a conduit through which people can find healing in happy songs or sad songs, or songs about anxiety, I am taping into what I feel understanding that so many other people feel them as well and maybe my music can put words to their feelings that they have been unable to articulate.

Pan M 360: Does that help you?

Madison McFerrin: Oh, totally!

Pan M 360: How easy is it to show yourself and your feelings?

Madison McFerrin: For me, showing it in music is probably the easiest way. I write in a journal just about every day and that is helpful, but I think in terms of really getting all of the expression out, music is definitely the place where I feel I can flow the most freely with my feelings. Music is the best place for me to be able to do that.

Pan M 360: You said in your song “undefined is a reminder I ain’t done so stay away,” what does that mean?

Madison McFerrin: I have been spending these last few years trying to define myself and my art and trying to figure out who I am, and not just as an artist but as a person. So the idea is that like if you are undefined, if you haven’t figured out what it is, it just means that you are not finished yet and it doesn’t mean that this is the end and so the “stay away from me”, what I am speaking to is that anxiety, that pressure of like “you don’t know who you are,” it’s like “you can stay away from me” because I am figuring myself out and I recognize that I am still on this journey and being on the journey is okay.

Pan M 360: You named two of your EPs “Finding Foundation,” did you find yours?

Madison McFerrin: Yeah, I think so. The meaning behind those titles was, I had taken some time to really figure out how I want to express myself as an artist and as a solo artist specifically because I have done some stuff in other groups. I come from a rich legacy of vocal music and even the first song I wrote in college was one where I couldn’t figure out the chords on the piano so I’d sing them and I ended up writing an acapella song and kind of getting back to that original root of my songwriting and that coupled with my familial roots, that’s what “finding foundation” was really about.

Pan M 360: Can you tell me more about your familial roots?

Madison McFerrin: My grandfather was the first African-American to sign a contract [editor’s note: Robert McFerrin was a baritone singer who sang negro spirituals] to the Metropolitan Opera. His wife, my grandmother was a renowned vocal teacher who was recognized by the state of California. My father is obviously a ten-time-grammy-winning vocalist, my oldest brother Taylor is a producer, and my middle brother, he’s an actor but he can sing too, he played Hamilton on Broadway. I am sure that it goes even further back than that. The musical legacy is incredibly rich in ways that tap into my familial roots.

Pan M 360: So finally, how do we learn to get true to ourselves?

Madison McFerrin: That’s a good question! If I could answer that, I think I would be a much more fortified human being [laugh], but ultimately, I think it comes down to really tapping into yourself, taking time for yourself, meditating, and journaling. I think also community is really important to that. Self-discovery doesn’t only come through yourself, it also comes through the dynamics that you have with the people around you and how they motivate you, how they push you because we are kind of told that we are supposed to be highly individual when, really, we are supposed to be communal, so I think that all that self-discovery comes through having a positive community.

Pan M 360: About composing, you said that you first sing before you play?

Madison McFerrin: I always start with the chords whether that’s me singing them in loop fashion or playing on the piano. Interestingly enough sometimes with production now I start with a drum beat and then I add chords to it but I definitely need some chords in there to be able to sack the melody and ultimately write the lyrics.

Pan M 360: Do you have some new projects coming or any projects aside?

Madison McFerrin: Some new music is on the way. Stay tuned.

Pan M 360: Is there something else you would like to add?

Madison McFerrin: I am just grateful to be back on the road and if anybody wants to connect with me, shoot me a DM, I am always down to connect with my fans. I am really looking for to be back in front of audiences.

Pan M 360: Have you already played with fans?

Madison McFerrin: I have done some lessons and I also have people joining for soundchecks. People will send me stuff in DMs and I do my best to listen to everything, give some advice, and I also have like a texting number where people can text me and we can chat that way, that has been useful during the pandemic.

Pan M 360: Thank you very much!

Both born in 1685, Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel are the great German composers on the program for this evening of the Festival Bach, courtesy of the London Handel Players. Scheduled for Monday, November 21 at Salle Bourgie, the connection is ideal: a British ensemble playing Handel, who spent most of his career in England where Baroque music flourished as it did in Germany, France, Italy, etc. And that is exactly why PAN M 360 talks to the violinist, conductor and artistic director of the London Handel Players, Adrian Butterfield, who was in England a few days ago.

PAN M 360: Although Handel lived most of his life in England, the corpus of this program is German. We won’t repeat the biography of JS Bach and Handel, would it be better to comment on each piece in the program.

ADRIAN BUTTERFIELD: Sure! Well, we begin with Handel’s beautiful Trio Sonata, Op. 5, No. 1, in A major, HWV 396. It begins with one of his favorite pieces of music, I think, because he used it several times, including in what we might now call his violin concerto. In my opinion, it is very nice that he brought back favorite pieces of music several times in his work. You can tell how proud he was of it and wanted more people to hear it. It must also be said that this work is interesting because it allows us to observe once again that he wrote German music throughout his life. And that we are very fortunate to have these beautiful works to perform.

PAN M 360: We move on to JSB’s Sonata for Violin and Harpsichord No.6, in G major, BWV 1019, which precedes two others.

ADRIAN BUTTERFIELD: Bach was such a pioneer that we don’t think of him as a very modern composer even today. He was a visionary for the centuries that followed his existence. In terms of these sonatas, I think the idea of putting the harpsichord at the center of chamber music, and then the concertos, was really new at that time. In a sense, he initiated the idea of the duo or trio sonata, which his son, Carl Philipp Emanuel, took up as did Mozart and Beethoven later. There is a real sense of progression from there. It is also worth remembering that Bach and Handel were the great keyboard players of all time. It’s really amazing that they were born in the same year, just a few miles apart, and never seemed to meet.
So I’ve played these sonatas many times over the years, but it was very nice to rediscover them with Silas (Wollston), our keyboard player, and we spent a lot of time playing them together with him and my wife and I.

PAN M 360: Your wife is flutist Rachel Brown.

ADRIAN BUTTERFIELD: Yes! When we got married some years ago, we already had most of the household items that we needed and we thought what, because people always want to give you something for your wedding. So we decided to ask people if they wanted to contribute to the purchase of a harpsichord. And so we ordered this beautiful instrument. Which is lovely because the band comes to our house for rehearsals. We don’t take this harpsichord out very often, so it doesn’t get abused. So the instrument doesn’t travel except for studio recordings. Silas loves to play this instrument, he keeps coming to our house to rehearse. It’s great to see him having so much pleasure with the harpsichord.

PAN M 360: The second trio sonata on the program is “The Musical Offering”, BWV 1079. What about it?

ADRIAN BUTTERFIELD: This is one of those epic Bach pieces that is demanding of both the listener and the performer in terms of the intellectual effort required to listen and appreciate. There are so many amazing aspects to this piece and it refers to that fascinating story of JS Bach going to visit his son Carl Philipp Emanuel at the court of Frederick the Great. Apparently, the son had been told that his old Bach had arrived. While there, JS Bach admired the brand new keyboard instruments. It also seems that Frederick the Great tried to test Bach by imposing particularly difficult themes on which he had to improvise, and he succeeded in making a three-part theme on the spot. But he apparently said that an improvisation on a six-part theme was beyond his abilities. That he had to work on it, which of course he did. So this Trio Sonata has a large-scale construction, a very special moment in the middle of the work. It is indeed very difficult to play, but very challenging. It’s extraordinary music that is unlike anything else.

PAN M 360: Did you build this program specifically for the Montreal Bach Festival? Or are you presenting this program in many places?

ADRIAN BUTTERFIELD: We’ve performed it before, but we thought it was particularly appropriate for the Montreal Bach Festival. We are, of course, the London Handel Players and we have a very strong connection to the London Handel Festival, which was founded in 1978. Twenty years earlier, the same organization had founded a Bach Festival in which we participated. So we share these two great passions for Handel and Bach. But the founder of the Handel Festival also founded a Bach Festival 2025 years before, which I still direct myself, so the bar can handle its two great passions and I think it’s, we have so much fun bringing the two composers together. They are contrasting figures in many ways, Handel being obsessed with opera and Bach never having the chance to write an opera, I mean write in an operatic style at that time.

PAN M 360: As English musicians, isn’t it an extraordinary exercise to play Handel and put him in relief with Bach?

ADRIAN BUTTERFIELD: Absolutely. Handel was a man of the theater and Bach was a man of the church. And to put the two in relief is a fascinating contrast. Having grown up in London and having seen so many places where Handel worked, it’s amazing to be in those spaces where we know he worked. Handel was such an important figure in London, so dominant but not in an unpleasant way. Of course, he had a few clashes with musicians, but he was such a positive influence and had a wonderful sense of humor. It is said that he often spoke in several different languages at once, and that his German accent never disappeared. But you know, he traveled a lot and was interested in singers and how to approach them. And he had this ability to strike you with emotion, and that’s particularly obvious in the second part of the program for this concert.

PAN M 360: You are talking about Da tempeste il legno infranto and Se pietà di me non senti, arias from his opera “Cesare in Egitto”, HWV 17.

ADRIAN BUTTERFIELD: Right. When Rachel did her research at the British Library, she found all these arrangements of Handel’s arias for flute. John Walsh was her publisher and saw an opportunity to make money from his most popular arias so that people could play them at home. Of course, there was no such thing as a recording, and this was the only way they could hear again the pieces they had discovered in Handel’s operas or oratorios. And it’s amazing how direct Handel is with his emotions. He really tugs at the heartstrings and knows how to persuade you of tragedy or great joy. We love playing the arrangements of these arias, we recorded some years ago and have explored a number of new areas since then. So there’s a lot of fun to be had playing these arias, and then Tilas will play Handel’s Harpsichord Suite in F major, HWV 427, and then you’ll hear the music of the other great keyboardist on the program, Bach’s Trio Sonata in G major, BWV 1038. These pieces all represent an enormous challenge for the performers.

PAN M 360: How do you see the collective sound of the London Handel Players and the individual sounds of each of the key players progressing?

ADRIAN BUTTERFIELD: The adaptation of the ensemble to the baroque flute has been important. Having played with Rachel for so many years, I felt it was essential to listen to the sound of the flute and adapt the sound of the strings to it. With an oboist, for example, it’s a completely different sound and the strings have to play differently, because the sound of the baroque flute is softer in general. But we’ve been doing it this way for several years and I hope we’ve found a good blend.

PROGRAM

George Frideric Handel (1685 – 1759)
Sonate en trio, opus 5, No. 1, in A major, HWV 396

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750)
Sonate pour violon et clavecin No.6, in G major, BWV 1019
Sonate en trio from The Musical Offering, BWV 1079

George Frideric Handel
Suite pour clavecin, in F major, HWV 427
Da tempeste il legno infranto et Se pietà di me non senti, from Giulio Cesare in Egitto, HWV 17

Johann Sebastian Bach
Sonate en trio, in G major, BWV 1038

ARTISTS

London Handel Players
Rachel Brown, flûte
Adrian Butterfield, violin
Gavin Kibble, cello
Silas Wollston, harpsichord

LONDON HANDEL PLAYERS ARE PERFORMING AT SALLE BOURGIE, MONDAY NOVEMBER 21, 7H30 PM. MORE INFOS & TICKETS HERE

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