Oeuvre: Mortuos plango, vivos voco

Un concert de « musique spatiale », composé d’œuvres de Grisey, Saariaho, Maresz, Harvey et Boule, au festival de Radio France, à Montpellier. Le spectateur est projeté dans un autre espace-temps, pour une immersion au cœur de la technologie et de l’innovation artistique qui ne peut laisser indifférent.

There was no doubt that for this concert, one had to enter the front door with a completely open mind. The aim of the Contemporary Music Venture is to promote contemporary music to a wider audience, in an hour and for free – an honourable challenge.This was set to be their first concert of the year.

To judge by the continued chatter, no-one noticed 100 metronomes on stage being set in motion, signalling the beginning of György Ligeti’s Poème symphonique (1962). Even when the lights were dimmed it only dawned on people slowly that the concert had actually already begun.