EXALTUM
quartet for violin, viola, cello and piano
Commissioned by the Korsholm Music Festival (Finland)
Premiere: Quatuor Ysaÿe, Kryštof Mařatka (piano), June 1999, Korsholm Music Festival
Kandinsky Quartet: Philippe Aiche, violin / Nicolas Bonne, viola / Nadine Pierre, violoncello / Claire Désert, piano
Extract of the score:
Exaltum, score in a single breath, presents itself as a succession of never definitive levels, as the construction of an "obsession that one cannot quit". According to the composer, this accumulation of tension and paroxysms gradually leads to an inexorable fall.
A thought by Andrei Tarkovsky had impressed the composer on the threshold of Exaltum. Repeating Laozi, the Russian director granted all the privileges to weakness - youth, suppleness, tenderness - while despising strength - its stiffness and hardness leading to death.