Contemporary

Semaine du Neuf | Quatuor Bozzini: Outpourings of friendship in a dreamlike sonic calm

by Alexandre Villemaire

To celebrate its silver anniversary, the Quatuor Bozzini joined forces with three exceptional composers: Martin Arnold, Linda Catlin Smith and Michael Oesterle. The program emphasized the friendship and close ties that have united the quartet’s musicians with these avant-garde composers for 25 years. On a musical level, this friendship translated into ethereal sonorities in works with an essentially gentle, calm aesthetic.

The first work presented was Martin Arnold’s 3-Way Cotillon, in its Montreal premiere. For the occasion, the members of Quatuor Bozzini (Isabelle Bozzini, cello; Stéphanie Bozzini, viola; Alissa Cheung, violin and Clemens Merkel, violin) were joined by violist Elisa Trudel and cellist Audréanne Filion, in a sextet formation. The harmonic environment is essentially diatonic. Among the many influences that characterize Arnold’s language, it was the use of folk-inspired material and the inspiration of early music that stood out for us. The musical inflections of the cotillion, a popular dance in 18th-century Europe and America, bear in some respects the sonic stamp of an Aaron Copland. The piece evolves with sporadic interventions of string lines, which are played dispersedly by the instrumentalists. There is a general evolution in the texture and timbre of the piece, starting from the treble and moving quietly into the lower strings throughout. As the work progresses, the jumbled, spaced-out material contracts over time, eventually coming together to create a coherent, interrelated whole.

Linda Catlin Smith’s Reverie, composed expressly for the occasion, echoed this same spirit of plenitude, but with a more stable melodic construction defined by thematic sections clear to our ears. We begin with long bow strokes exposing pure notes, while the sounds melt into each other timbrally. Midway through, a harmonic carpet supports dissonant melodic passages played above it, in an expressive, ominous half-tone character. Further on, in a tonal calm with a melancholy atmosphere, a recurring modal theme is expressed and repeated several times, creating a feeling of weightlessness and temporal elasticity. We fully understand the artistic choice to follow these two works, given their difference from the last piece of the concert and their strong aesthetic similarity. But, at a certain point in the sound treatment, one had the impression of hearing a kind of continuation of Martin Arnold’s piece in Linda Catlin Smith’s, despite a very different musical treatment and narrative language.

Keeping the listener’s senses alert is a challenge, and can be a double-edged sword in such an arrangement. The final work of the evening was Michael Oesterle’s String Quartet No. 4, and was, in terms of texture, the most varied. It thus balanced the dreamlike character of the works in the first half. After an introduction worthy of a 19th-century musical line, the central parts of the work explore different instrumental timbres, with extended playing techniques to create bursting sonorities, from string rubs to high notes. For example, in Oesterle’s quartet, the interaction between violinists Clemens Merkel and Alissa Cheung’s swift motives, over which energetic pizzicato interventions were brushed, or the thematic superimposition that initiates the work’s conclusion, which reintroduces the opening theme.

The highly focused acoustics of the MMR at McGill University meant that the sound didn’t travel far, but remained anchored. For the repertoire played, this hall was ideal, as it gave us a detailed appreciation of the interpretation of each of the instrumentalists, whose act of supporting these pieces with these long-developing musical lines demands sonic constancy and mastery of sound, as well as sensitive and precise listening to the various changes in dynamics. An attentiveness that echoes the friendly ties that bind the musicians together.

Contemporary Opera / Experimental / Contemporary

Semaine du Neuf 2025 : TAK Ensemble – Star Maker / Love Songs & Ana Sokolovic par Kristin Hoff

by Rédaction PAN M 360

L’ensemble new-yorkais TAK, figure de proue de la musique expérimentale américaine, présente Star Maker Fragments, une œuvre inspirée d’un roman de science-fiction.
Cette œuvre mixte électroacoustique à la partition imaginative signée Taylor Brook, met en scène des extraits du roman révolutionnaire d’Olaf Stapledon Star Maker, paru en 1937. Le roman invite le lecteur à suivre un narrateur humain, projeté dans un voyage cosmique hors de son corps, qui explore les confins de l’espace et du temps. Brook transpose musicalement les sociétés imaginaires de Stapledon en déployant un langage sonore composé de lignes microtonales étendues et transcendantes.
En première partie, Kristin Hoff interprète Love Songs d’Ana Sokolovic.
Cet opéra intime sur le thème de l’amour explore, en 100 langues différentes, les diverses expressions de l’amour : de l’amour passionné à l’amour perdu, en passant par l’amour familial.

New York ensemble TAK, a leading figure in American experimental music, presents Star Maker Fragments, a work inspired by a science-fiction novel.
This mixed electroacoustic work, with its imaginative score by Taylor Brook, features extracts from Olaf Stapledon’s groundbreaking 1937 novel Star Maker. The novel invites the reader to follow a human narrator, projected on a cosmic out-of-body journey, as he explores the outer reaches of space and time. Brook musically transposes Stapledon’s imaginary societies, deploying a sonic language of extended, transcendental microtonal lines.
Opening the evening, Kristin Hoff performs Love Songs by Ana Sokolovic.
This intimate opera about love explores, in 100 different languages, the various expressions of love: from passionate love to lost love, and familial love.

Programme

Ana Sokolovic: Love Songs (2008) – 40’
Taylor Brook: Star Maker Fragments (2021) ~60′
(création canadienne)

Program

Ana Sokolovic: Love Songs (2008) – 40’
Taylor Brook: Star Maker Fragments (2021) ~60”
(Canadian Premiere)

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Avant-Garde / Musique de création

Semaine du Neuf 2025 : Quatuor Bozzini – Effusione d’Amicizia

by Rédaction PAN M 360

Le Quatuor Bozzini célèbre ses 25 ans avec des créations de trois compositeur-ices d’exception: Michael Oesterle, Linda Catlin Smith et Martin Arnold.
Depuis sa fondation, l’ensemble a tissé des liens étroits avec ces compositeur-ices d’avant-garde. Ce concert sera l’occasion d’assister à la création de plusieurs œuvres, notamment 3-Way Cotillion, un sextuor de Martin Arnold, où on retrouve la fascination du compositeur pour la musique ancienne, les traditions folk et l’influence des musiques psychédéliques. Michael Oesterle, rencontré au Forum du NEM en 1996, est à l’origine d’une longue collaboration avec l’ensemble, qui présentera son Quatuor no 4, cinquième œuvre écrite pour le Bozzini. Quant à Linda Catlin Smith, compositrice établie à Toronto, elle a créé la pièce Reverie spécialement pour l’occasion. Sa musique a été décrite par The Guardian comme “lente et tranquille, mais aussi luxuriante, réminiscente de Couperin et Debussy.”

Quatuor Bozzini is celebrating its 25th anniversary with creations by three exceptional composers: Michael Oesterle, Linda Catlin Smith and Martin Arnold.
Since its foundation, the ensemble has developed close ties with these avant-garde composers. This concert will feature the premiere of several works, including 3-Way Cotillion, a sextet by Martin Arnold, which reflects the composer’s fascination with early music, folk traditions and the influence of psychedelic music. Michael Oesterle, who they met at the NEM Forum in 1996, has enjoyed a long collaboration with the ensemble, which will present his Quartet No. 4, the fifth work written for Bozzini. Toronto-based composer Linda Catlin Smith has created Reverie especially for the occasion. Her music is described by The Guardian as “slow and quiet, but also lush, reminiscent of Couperin and Debussy”.

Programme

Linda Catlin Smith: Reverie (2025) – 20’ (création)
Martin Arnold: 3-Way Cotillion (2021) – 20’ (création)
Michael Oesterle: String Quartet No. 4 (2019) – 26’ (création montréalaise)

Program

Linda Catlin Smith: Reverie (2025) – 20’ (creation)
Martin Arnold: 3-Way Cotillion (2021) – 20’ (creation)
Michael Oesterle: String Quartet No. 4 (2019) – 26’ (Montreal creation)

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immersion / musique acousmatique / Musique de création

Semaine du Neuf 2025 : Musiques & Recherches – Vous avez dit musique acousmatique?

by Rédaction PAN M 360

Une plongée de trois heures dans l’univers de la musique acousmatique, immersive et spatialisée en temps réel, avec le résultat de plusieurs décennies de collaboration entre la Belgique et le Québec.
Julien Guillamat et Annette Vande Gorne présentent des œuvres imaginées au sein des studios multiphoniques de Musiques & Recherches en Belgique. En première partie, Annette Vande Gorne, figure emblématique de la musique acousmatique, présente Vox Alia, un cycle de cinq pièces autour de la voix, premier vecteur émotionnel et musical, support ancestral de toute communication. En deuxième partie, Julien Guillamat interprète sa dernière composition, Altitudes, puis un extrait de sa Symphonie de l’étang, une œuvre sonore immersive basée sur le paysage sonore de l’étang de Thau. Les œuvres de Francis Dhomont, Piazza, Ana Dall’Ara-Majek et Robert Normandeau témoignent également des échanges entre Montréal et Musiques et Recherches.

A three-hour immersion into the world of acousmatic, immersive and spatialized music in real time, with the result of decades of collaboration between Belgium and Quebec.
Composers Julien Guillamat and Annette Vande Gorne present works imagined in the multiphonic studios of Musiques & Recherches in Belgium. In the first part, Annette Vande Gorne, an emblematic figure in acousmatic music, presents Vox Alia, a cycle of five pieces based on the voice, the primary emotional and musical vector, and the ancestral medium of all communication. In the second half, Julien Guillamat performs his latest composition, Altitudes, followed by an extract from his Symphonie de l’étang, an immersive sound work based on the soundscape of the Etang de Thau. Works by David Piazza, Ana Dall’Ara-Majek and Robert Normandeau also testify to the exchanges between Montreal and Musiques et Recherches.

Programme

Francis Dhomont : Vol d’arondes (1999)
Annette Vande Gorne : Vox Alia I — Affetti (1992-2000)
Annette Vande Gorne : Vox Alia II — Cathédrales (2021)*
Annette Vande Gorne : Vox Alia III — Vox intima (2022-23)*
Annette Vande Gorne : Vox Alia IV — Vox populi (2023)*
Annette Vande Gorne : Vox Alia V — Vox naturæ (2024)*
Entracte
Julien Guillamat : Altitudes (2024)*
Julien Guillamat: Symphonie de l’étang, 2nd Mvt (2023)*
David Piazza : Clameurs et agrégats place de Ransbeck (2022)*
Ana Dall’Ara-Majek: Xylocopa Ransbecka (2017)
Robert Normandeau: Rumeurs place de Ransbeck (1987)
*création canadienne

Program

Francis Dhomont : Vol d’arondes (1999)
Annette Vande Gorne : Vox Alia I — Affetti (1992-2000)
Annette Vande Gorne : Vox Alia II — Cathédrales (2021)*
Annette Vande Gorne : Vox Alia III — Vox intima (2022-23)*
Annette Vande Gorne : Vox Alia IV — Vox populi (2023)*
Annette Vande Gorne : Vox Alia V — Vox naturæ (2024)*
Entract
Julien Guillamat : Altitudes (2024)*
Julien Guillamat: Symphonie de l’étang, 2nd Mvt (2023)*
David Piazza : Clameurs et agrégats place de Ransbeck (2022)*
Ana Dall’Ara-Majek: Xylocopa Ransbecka (2017)
Robert Normandeau: Rumeurs place de Ransbeck (1987)
*Canadian premiere

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Electroacoustic / saxophone

Quasar Presents the 9th Edition of the Électro Series

by Rédaction PAN M 360

Quasar presents the ninth edition of its Electro series, highlighting the exploration of new technologies with four creations for saxophones and electroacoustic devices.
Quasar continues its exploration of the world of sound in the digital age, presenting four creations for saxophones and electroacoustic audio and video devices. Four composers at the heart of contemporary music team up with Quasar’s musicians to explore the multiple and fascinating possibilities offered by the encounter between acoustic instruments and technologies. Real-time sound processing, electronic soundtracks, video, spatialization and virtual identities are just some of the ways they explore the world of sound, offering audiences an immersive, sensitive and powerful experience. An unmissable event on the new music scene.

Quasar présente la neuvième édition de sa série Électro, qui valorise l’exploration des nouvelles technologies avec quatre créations pour saxophones et dispositifs électroacoustiques.
Quasar poursuit son exploration du monde sonore à l’ère numérique et présente quatre créations pour saxophones et dispositifs électroacoustiques audio et vidéo. Quatre composi·teur·trice·s au cœur de l’actualité musicale contemporaine font équipe avec les musicien·ne·s de Quasar en explorant les multiples et fascinantes possibilités qu’offre la rencontre des instruments acoustiques avec les technologies. Traitement du son en temps réel, trames électroniques, vidéo, spatialisation, identités virtuelles, autant de moyens pour explorer l’univers du son et livrer au public une expérience immersive, sensible et percutante. Un événement incontournable de la scène des musiques nouvelles.


THIS EVENT IS FREE. RESERVATIONS HERE!

This content comes from Le Vivier and is adapted by PAN M 360.

expérimental / contemporain / Modern Classical

Semaine du Neuf | Sturm und Klang

by Varun Swarup

It was in the heart of the Elizabeth Wirth Building of McGill University’s Schulich School of Music, in its large underground multimedia room, that the Between Feathers ensemble (made up of Laure-Catherine Beyers on vocals, Audrey G. Perreault on flutes, Hannes Schöggl on percussion, and Maria Mogas Gensana on accordion) performed a selection of music by various composers from around the world in a programme entitled Sturm und Klang, or “storm and sound” in German.

The concert opened with a single, sharp brushstroke from a snare drum. The composition, “(des)en)canto” by Pedro Berardinelli, proceeds by becoming a kind of soundtrack to an evening in an otherworldly restaurant; the low notes of the accordion played like chairs scraping on the floor, two percussive bowls were struck and rubbed together, and over this, the extended technique of the other musicians like the “slap tongue” – a percussive effect – of the bass flute, and the voice singing through the snare drum, among other interesting effects.

Continuing with Tanja Brueggemann’s “La Somme des Chiffres 1+2”, the ensemble, equipped with flashing headlamps, was plunged into the darkness and gloom of the composition. There were sounds almost like rain playing in 3D through the seventy speakers around the hall, as the musicians played an ambience that evoked sea waves beneath a ship in the night, with vocal notes piercing the air like siren songs through the mist. The huge projector screen hanging over it like a big sail reinforced the image, and even when they sat at a table over a single illuminated glass, it was like a tense dinner in the ship’s cabin.

The other compositions took advantage of similar techniques, with the addition of projections for Nour Symon’s “Mâ‘lesh I – leurs étreintes bouleverserait la mer”, which followed two brushstrokes of black and multicolored ink on a scrolling canvas that corresponded to the flute and accordion, respectively; and Lisa R. Coons’ “Essay I: Mater”, in which a voice spoke over a photo of several pieces of paper with personal reflections, musical instructions, and drawings, on a table decorated with bones and flowers. This second piece succeeded in capturing the effort to define one’s craft as an artist and the incessant thoughts of doubt that accompany it, but the projections, especially the second with its montage of jumbled zooms and color changes, remained dynamic but lost their novelty before the end.

The pieces “La forma delle conchiglie” by Lorenzo Troiani and “about, away – Création” by James O’Callaghan, also had their strong points, with the addition of almost operatic moments, made all the more captivating by the grandeur of the hall. Both, with their use of lighting effects and alternative techniques, were as dramatic and cinematic as the compositions by Bernardinelli and Brueggemann.  

In all, the musicians demonstrated superior control of these difficult materials and a high level of performance. Sturm und Klang indeed.

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