Les Trois Âges de la Vie

wrote Les trois âges de la vie for violist Karine Lethiec as part of her MUSICoMAN project, which aims to forge a link between us and our ancestors through the way we look at prehistoric objects from their daily lives.
I was fascinated by the Paleolithic thruster known as the «three horse heads at three different ages», carved in such a distinctive way, and by the theme of this prehistoric art object.
The notion of time has always been part of my work as a composer; to think that our ancestors 15,000 years ago were already in some way able to question the notion of the unfolding of existence, with a beginning and above all an end… is disturbing. This question of time gives meaning to our lives, each with its own tempo.
In this work, I’ve imagined a sort of «beginning of time» for an individual and, at the same time, something related to primary, cosmic matter.
These elements gradually transform, generating an energy that grows and grows, quite explosive, before giving way to matter that has been transformed but perhaps returns to where it came from…