Vagues / Fenêtres

This piece began with a sound image evoking the movement of water, which I translated back and forth between line drawings and music notation. As with most of my pieces, the title (which translates as ‘waves / windows’) came late, but revealed preoccupations that had been partly unconscious; a multiplicity of waves, from gentle ripples to tsunami; the notion of a window as both barrier and connection; conflicts of scale; and tensions between movement/stasis, line/mass, narrative/fragmentation.


A row of windows along a sea wall; dirty, misted, broken, reflecting waves back again at crazy angles. A wall of sound which breaks open to reveal a delicate layer, previously hidden.

vagues / fenêtres was initiated while on a French American Cultural Exchange fellowship working with Michel Pascal in Nice at CIRM and the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional. It was premièred during the 2009 MANCA Festival. This version has been substantially revised. The electronic part is made entirely from string sounds, recorded during studio sessions with Victor Huguenin (violin), Nils Bultman (viola) and Ambre Tamagna (cello).