Located in the UK
Located in the USA
Located in Europe
- Allain Gaussin
Jardin Zen (1999)
- Alphonse Leduc (World)
- clarinet and electronics
- 10 min 30 s
Programme Note
Every morning, tirelessly, the Buddhist monks Zen, with their wooden rakes in their gravel garden, draw enigmatic geometric lines, different each time. The few very big stones (sometimes rocks) selected and placed from the beginning here or there, in an equally enigmatic and symbolic way, are for their part immutable.
Facing these gardens and during long hours, the monks meditate on emptiness, between what is fixed and what is changing, to search life’s essence itself and attempt to reach the Satori (the supreme enlightenment).
The work is divided in five parts: Selflessness - Questions without answers - Tense meditation - Tearing away from one’s body - The spirit of light.
Three types of materials structure the composition:
• electro-acoustic sounds coming from numerous sonic objects recorded then more or less transformed in the studio
• synthesis sounds made of poor wave forms (sinus, triangle, square...) but profusely treated and developed in a highly sophisticated computerized environment.
• A soloist clarinet, which musical role will be different in each part.
The true face of Jardin Zen comes from the confrontation of these three materials with the five parts of the general form. This is why the score is built in a symmetrical way around the third part (with the soloist clarinet), the electro acoustic sounds have been placed in the second and fourth parts, and the sounds from the sonic synthesis in the first and fifth parts.
This way, in each part of Jardin Zen, I drew my own geometrical lines while trying to grasp this tiny piece of eternity Time...
The friendship I had with Gerard GRISEY, as well as the respect we mutually had for each other’s works enticed me to dedicate him Jardin Zen before he unexpectedly suddenly passed away. While I was writing Jardin Zen, I thought then that the best dedication would be to offer him a light spectral scent. It can be easily perceived in the first part.
Facing these gardens and during long hours, the monks meditate on emptiness, between what is fixed and what is changing, to search life’s essence itself and attempt to reach the Satori (the supreme enlightenment).
The work is divided in five parts: Selflessness - Questions without answers - Tense meditation - Tearing away from one’s body - The spirit of light.
Three types of materials structure the composition:
• electro-acoustic sounds coming from numerous sonic objects recorded then more or less transformed in the studio
• synthesis sounds made of poor wave forms (sinus, triangle, square...) but profusely treated and developed in a highly sophisticated computerized environment.
• A soloist clarinet, which musical role will be different in each part.
The true face of Jardin Zen comes from the confrontation of these three materials with the five parts of the general form. This is why the score is built in a symmetrical way around the third part (with the soloist clarinet), the electro acoustic sounds have been placed in the second and fourth parts, and the sounds from the sonic synthesis in the first and fifth parts.
This way, in each part of Jardin Zen, I drew my own geometrical lines while trying to grasp this tiny piece of eternity Time...
The friendship I had with Gerard GRISEY, as well as the respect we mutually had for each other’s works enticed me to dedicate him Jardin Zen before he unexpectedly suddenly passed away. While I was writing Jardin Zen, I thought then that the best dedication would be to offer him a light spectral scent. It can be easily perceived in the first part.
Media
Jardin Zen