Four Lessons of Darkness (2011)
(Concerto for E-Cello and Orchestra)

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Johannes Moser, this evening's solo cellist, inspired Bollon to write the cello concerto. It is not a concerto for a conventional cello, but for an electric cello. Just as an electric guitar is not simply an electrically amplified guitar, the sound of the electric cello is much more multi-faceted than that of a normal cello. With the help of electronics, the sound can be altered almost at will. Effects are possible that cannot be achieved on a traditional instrument.

Just as an organist pulls the stops on his organ, the e-cellist can control a small computer on the floor with his foot. The soloist has programmed this laptop beforehand, which is already part of his interpretation. During the performance, he simply calls up the presets, i.e. the desired sounds and effects. Apart from this programming, Bollon uses the cello like a traditional instrument. The soloist blends in with the sound of the orchestra or sets himself apart.

Fabrice Bollon: To play the concerto, the soloist has to be an incredible virtuoso. There is hardly a work of solo cello literature that makes greater technical demands, not least because of the complex software. Two keyboards and an electric drum set are a striking feature of the orchestration. This sound is just as unusual for an orchestra as the old sound of the harpsichord, which is also used. Bollon has assigned several styles to the keyboards: Sounds familiar to the listener from pop music can be heard. Other sounds are reminiscent of a distant choral sound.

Bollon explained this mixture of styles with the following words: Although I use sounds from pop music and jazz, the piece is not a crossover. I'm not a big fan of these attempts to juxtapose different genres. Because the effect of such programmes is usually that one musical genre seems to proclaim with nostalgia that it would like to be the other musical genre.

The cello concerto has four movements. The first movement is a great lament with a few outbursts of anger (Bollon). The second movement, which follows attacca without interruption, is a perpetuum mobile. A meditation follows in the third part: sounds promising consolation and confidence after the gloom of the previous movements. Finally, the finale is a reference to funk-jazz and leads back to the genesis of the work. Cellist Johannes Moser and composer Fabrice Bollon had experienced a funk-jazz concert together in Stuttgart.
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Eckhard Roelcke (Translation Edition Peters)