“Pascal Dusapin: Quatuor Vl “Hinterland” & Quatuor Vll “OpenTime”” – this album were released this year by “aeon music”. The compositions by French composer Pascal Dusapin were recorded by “Arditti Quartet” and “Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France” conducted by Pascal Rophe. Pascal Dusapin is a French composer. His music is based on modern contemporary music styles and post-romantic music synthesis. He also use many original and extraordinary musical decisions which make this music very similar to academic avant-garde and experimental music. The main part of his compositions are dedicated for chamber ensembles, symphony orchestras or solo instruments. His musical language is very colorful, energetic and dynamic, full of adventurous stylistic waves, different moods and characters. Own and original composing style which he had created through the years of creative activity is the main reason why his music is so interesting and essentially combined of different musical elements. “Arditti Quartet” and “Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France” are one of the most famous collectives in the world – their interpretations of contemporary music composers compositions are usually played interesting, extraordinary, precisely and essentially.
The compositions written by Pascal Dusapin have essential and original sound. Two quartets – “Quartet 6” and “Quartet 7” – are based on various contemporary music styles synthesis. Modernism, post-romantic and academic avant-garde music traditions and elements are essentially combined together in these compositions. The composer had created and masterfully improved his very own and unique composing style which is based on colorful and extraordinary sound, original musical decisions and adventurous stylistic waves. These two quartets, as same as earlier ones, are very energetic and expressive. The mood and character of the compositions is always changing. From expressive, energetic and active tutti episodes there comes silent and lyric or very dramatic and provocative episodes. The wide range and changes of the moods are made with numerous of different playing techniques, musical expressions and innovative musical language. Dramatic and energetic melodies, expressive and dynamic rhythmic are illustrated with essential background – noisy, loud and screamy separate sounds of strings, various repetitive melodic and rhythmic elements, glissando, pizzicato, arpeggio and other accompaniment traditional playing techniques. All these elements are masterfully combined together in one composition. Along with various traditional playing techniques composer uses numbers of innovative and modern ways of playing – he search and try out new and extraordinary ways of playing and extract colorful and different timbres and sounds. The musical pattern of the compositions is mainly based on polyphonic form and structure. There are some episodes with homophonic basement, but they are gently combined together with polyphony. Independent melodies, colorful and expressive solos, energetic and active tutti episodes, wide range of rhythms, unusual and strange noises, astonishing solos and fine background are the main elements of these compositions. The harmony is also very interesting – it’s formed of sharp dissonances which are very frequently used in contemporary music and some of consonance chords which consist of various sounds. Rich and adventurous musical language, extraordinary musical decisions, high variety of composing techniques, own and unique composing style, unpredictable and colorful stylistic waves, different moods and characters which are contrasting with each other – all these elements make original and interesting sound of this album compositions.
Avant Scena 