Performance by Wilhem Latchoumia at CCRMA, Stanford. October 15, 2013. Part of a US tour organized by GRAME (www.grame.fr), supported by FACE Council. Info and program notes: https://ccrma.stanford.edu/events/grame-presents-wilhem-latchoumia-piano-electronics Commissioned by Musique Nouvelle en Liberté Acknowledgment Editions Lemoine "I never thought that my works would attract immortality, but since few famous poets have done them the honor of the parody, this choice of preference may well in time to come, share a reputation they will owe to the originals as charming parodies they have inspired. I therefore thank in advance all my associated volunteers, as a flateuse society, by providing a broad scope to exercise their Minerva" (François Couperin, introduction to the Third Book, Paris, 1722). François Couperin, as well as his uncle Louis, who died early, have been my musical tuff. Not a week without reading, listening to their music, visiting as a neighbour, the church St-Gervais-St-Protais, where all their family has played the organ. When Alexandre Tharaud told me about his project Couperin, it seemed to me that he was asking me not to move from that grove where I have gardened since my teen age, between Rozeaux, Lis Naissans,Vendangeuses, Vergers fleuris, Dars homicides and other 'Coucou bénévole'. As if he wanted a cliché, or an autochrome, of that time, a kind of «madeleine» to me, as well as a buoy in the torrent of my ideas. We searched for some time. Alexandre, as a precise and thoughtful man, refined his choices. He first wanted to marry me with a German, whereas I was imagining myself with Poppies of the 27th order. Then his piano has talked. "Les Ombres errantes" suited me : the shadows use to flow out from the pipe when I write music. And wandering is my tendency. "Ambre nous resterons", an anagram from the original title of Couperin, is a slow meditation, sometimes stpped, lightened with sudden sparks. These few pages follow step by step the harmony of the original work. Couperin already has a beautiful grave - I therefore wrote his cenotaph. This work, and Alexandre Tharaud's request, have allowed me to experience one again how invention and memory are linked, especially when fidelity blends them in a poetical act, that becomes the issue of music, its utopia impossible to join.

• published: 22 Oct 2013
• views: 92