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- Nicolas Bacri
Quatuor à cordes No. 6, Op. 97 (2006)
- Le Chant Du Monde (World)
Commissioned by Musique Nouvelle en Liberté for the 2005 'Grand Prix Lycéens des compositeurs'
Dedicated to Jacques Boisgallais and the Quatuor Psophos.
Programme Note
With his Sixth Quartet (3), Bacri moves on from the architecture in four movements used in the Fifth Quartet to an integrated architecture, with three uninterrupted movements, a sonata form of sorts preceded by an introduction, a fugue theme which is the base for a short slow movement and variations on that theme.
The writing and esthetic choices of this piece show continuity with the previous works, especially through the clear will for structure and the firm commitment to a discursive logic at the service of an expressiveness focused on two main poles which the composer ceaselessly explores and interrogates, namely reflexive, often somber gravity and the liberating force of vital energy.
The quartet starts with an Adagio (Track 1) which progressively emerges from silence in two waves of chords that take shape and amplify progressively (intertwining, crescendo). From there emerges a meditative phrase introduced by the viola and prolonged by the second violin. A new, more ample deployment of chords (15th bar [43’’]) leads to the Allegro fuocoso (24th bar [1’04]) whose theme, featuring diverse rhythmic figurations, leaps forward with impetus at the two violins which play in imitation and are soon supported by the two bass instruments in a thick counterpoint. The instruments unite in a homophonic way to give more strength to a motif labelled brutale (37th bar [1’17]) which is used as a transition to a second, more lyrical thematic group divided into two entities, Poco sostenuto (41st bar [1’22]) and Tempo giusto (un poco solemne, 49th bar [1’38]). This last entity starts up as a supple, passionate expressive vibrato, then grows stiff and climbs to a screeching high register with a torrent of tremolos that lead to an identical repeat (67th bar [2’08]). The development deals successively with the universe of each of the two themes and is followed by an abridged reexposition (158th bar [4’13]), which is harsher than the exposition and leads to a slow Adagio molto movement (185th bar, Track 2 [0’00]) which can be construed as a final development: taking as a basis the musical material of the introduction, it amplifies it at length according to a germination technique which conjures up new lyrical topics. A transition (Misterioso, 222nd bar [2’20]) building on the same elements leads to the third movement, Variazioni alla fuga (240th bar, Track 3 [0’00]), which immediately follows.
In order to introduce the theme on which the variations will be built, Bacri summons the four homophonic instruments in a double string fortissimo discourse which hammers a beat rhythm; this motif will then be the starting point for the subject of the fugue, first spelled out by the second violin. Composite to the point of syncretism, this subject combines the rhythmic element, first with a brief figuration which derives from the fuocoso theme in the previous movement, then with a broad lyrical motif. Apart from its fugue-like idiom, the originality of this thematic entity lies in its division into fragments which are all written as fugues and unfold according to various methods (changes in the order of appearance of the instruments, for instance) and original expressive strategies: growing intensity until a furioso for the first fragment, deployment into a passionate espressivo for the second one (264th bar [24”]), long furtivo before a brief increase in intensity and a homophonic conclusion for the third one (309th bar [1’07]). The first variation (318th bar [1’15]) leads us through contrasted landscapes, ranging from the Giocoso (328th bar [1’25]) to the Serio (339th bar [1’36]). The second variation (394th bar [2’29]) plays the role of a slow movement and expresses fairly gloomy feelings (Doloroso, 402nd bar [2’37]; Tragico, 421st bar [3’06]) which are however conjured up with a range of sweet tones (dolce cantabile, 412nd bar [2’51]). In these two variations, some reminiscences of the Great Fugue, although more remote than in the Fourth Quartet, are to be found at times (for instance in variation 1, Drammatico, 350th bar [1’46] and variation 2, Quasi cadenza, 432nd bar [3’29]). The third variation (440th bar [3’59]) brings back the energetic vivaciousness of the theme and develops it in a more homophonic way despite a few imitations. It then leads to a fierce coda (468th bar [4’28]).
In this quartet, Bacri seems to keep away from the esthetics of post-modernity, especially through his fondness for quotations and collages. The expressive choices are certainly not without kinships with what can be found in Bartók’s or Shostakovich’s quartets, but this does not prevent the composer from affirming a personal style which Gérard Condé rightly describes as “headstrong and inspired” but which can be lyrical and profound as well.
Bernard Fournier
Translation: Alexandre Escorcia and Jennifer Arenson-Escorcia