Couleurs
String Orchestra
Couleurs is part of Visages
Liner Notes for Couleurs :
This piece is probably closest to my personal musical language. Though you may not hear it, the musical idea has its roots in the word FACE. My primary motif is built on the melody A-F-A-F-C#-E, a frankly modern idiom which nevertheless retains many of my lyrical characteristics. This is an interior voyage that begins in a schoolyard with a quiet reference to a childhood melody I would sing when I was very young:
Rond, rond, macaron,
ma p’tite sœur, ma p’tite sœur.
Rond, rond, macaron,
ma p’tite sœur est dans maison.
The piece then takes a turn toward the embattled heart. And at the very end, after being shattered by the force of strong and troubling emotions, the music wanders along a never-ending beach, tracing a perfectly still sea under a blanket of gleaming stars to a place where it can finally rest and take stock of the road travelled.
Couleurs is a reflection of the constant questioning that is part of daily life when we’re sixteen – when the white mixes with the black, and the resulting shades and tints colour the essence of our soul-searching. Nothing is clear. And yet calm and inner peace are never far from our souls, a tiny inch away from hope.
La Suite du promeneur
String Orchestra
Liner Notes for la Suite du promeneur :
“Mankind is a wanderer pending death. But sometimes life is lost long before one’s cold body begins to feed the earth. Through lack of trust, neglect, or giving up, it is often difficult to realize that existence depends not only on unknowns but also on a thirst to know oneself, despite the imbalances this may cause. It is always difficult to question constantly, but is even more unbearable to feel like a straw in the wind. This Suite calls out to the heart and to passion for life. Do not be a mere spectator. Do not be afraid of mistakes. Go to the end with the undoubted satisfaction of not being outdone by life. This Suite is dedicated to my parents who supported me with love, for so long.”
© Copyright Louis Babin 1992
Recording session of the second movement of la Suite du promeneur : L’extase