The wind band is the first group I wanted to write for. I have always liked the richness of the timbres and the different dynamics that can be explored with this ensemble. Moreover, I wanted to create a concertante work highlighting a group of instruments. When I met the Lakko trio, the choice seemed obvious: to write for a trio of percussionists considered as a separate entity, each part being inseparable from the other.

A concerto with 12 sticks accompanied by the wind band.

I chose the keyboards (vibraphone, marimba and glockenspiel) because I appreciate the diversity of musical intentions that can be suggested with this formation. The vibraphone transmits to us its soft and rich harmonic sounds, with a particularly long note holding. Its possibilities of play are very varied, by the choice of the various sticks or with the use of the bow. The marimba and its more “woody” sound brings a real depth, I explored in particular all the low tessitura of the 5 octaves marimba. As for the glockenspiel, it brings a “brilliant” aspect to the trio.

Atlantide (Atlantis) is a theme that I wanted to deal with for a long time. It is a vast subject that has fascinated and fed the artistic and popular imagination for centuries, a mixture of reality and fiction, a fantasy of a brilliant and utopian civilization. It is also considered by some as the cradle of esotericism, and feeds polemic and mystery around its disappearance. The keyboard trio seemed to me particularly appropriate to illustrate the “aquatic” dimension of this fantastic and mysterious place.

“Atlantide” is a commission from Bécarre production Creation on January 17, 2016 at the theater of Orleans by the Lakko trio and the band of the Municipal Music of Orleans.

For this piece, I translated into music the impressions that evoke me the Loire, whose banks I walk since my childhood, and where I like to go regularly to inspire me.

In the introduction of the piece,

The music evokes the majestic character of the river.

Imagine an ashy heron flying high over the Loire and its elegant curves, Watching over the splendor of the royal river.

Then comes the idyllic aspect of the river. In the peaceful current,

A light breeze caresses the transparent wave, Forming small waves on its surface.

The sun delicately shines on the waves, Creating a silvery mist.

From the water’s edge rises a soft music that invites to reverie…

Afterwards we switch to anger.

The concern and the anguish rise,

It is the flood, with the elements running wild…

The once peaceful current becomes a devastating torrent that sweeps away everything in its path. From these whirlpools, the Lady in fury spits out trunks which clash in a noisy tumult.

Then it is the appeasement, and again we celebrate the splendor, the mystery and the poetry of the wild river…