Les Pierres chantent

Les Pierres chantent was born when I was put in touch, via Dana Ciocarlie, with Vincent Baume, who runs the Piano à Saint-Ursanne festival. I was then able to discover the duo of 4-handed pianists that Dana forms with Christiane Baume-Sanglard, discover new repertoires through them and their recordings, and give birth to the desire to write for them a suite inspired by the town of Saint-Ursanne, and more specifically its magnificent collegiate church.
So, by coming to 2022 for a week, I was able to dream about this piece, letting it slowly emerge and take first form as I wandered around the site. However, the gestation process was more difficult than usual for me, as the physical memory of the place sometimes became blocking when it came to bringing it back to life through sound, in Paris…
I hope that potential listeners and tourists discovering this place will be able, who knows, to accompany themselves with the piece and experience a link between the vibration in the air through sound, and through the organic nature of the stones, associated with the magic displayed by the artists and builders of the past. So I’ve chosen an eight-stage itinerary illuminated by sound, as if the stones were singing.