« Trois Eaux-Fortes »
« Three etchings »

Duration : about 10 minutes

This piece was commissioned by the French government and composed in 1991-1992. The first performance was at the Festival « Musicales en Valois » in June, 1992, by Alain Raës.
The title implies a parallel with the graphic arts which are very important to the composer. Considering the instruments of the orchestra as colours, the piano, with its neutral sound, has resources similar to the engraving, which also does not have the resource of colour. This work, which is atonal, evokes a triptyque of abstract character in which the lines, the transparency of sound levels and the varying density caused by their accumulation, create the character of each episode.
The first episode, « Mouvementé », is an expressive and intense dialogue ; while the second, « Suspendu », superimposes the progression of reflections, reminiscences and resonances, which emanate from a complex chord whose « halo » constitutes the framework of the piece. The third movement, « Contrasted », is a monologue constantly interrupted by music of an obsessional tone.
English translation : Michael Wladkowski

Here is a review by Elisabeth Sikora in « Diapason » Magazine (february 1997) :
« Built on the idea of contrast, these pages for piano are characterized above all by the use of reverberating sounds and romantic reflections. »

In the September-October 2003 issue of the review « L’Education Musicale », Gérard Denizeau wrote about the CD produced by REM :
“As for Edith Lejet, …, she develops here, in “Trois Eaux-Fortes” for piano, such a poignant poetry - although of exclusively musical essence, therefore impossible to translate into words - that one may wonder why this music is not broadcast more frequently.”

Publisher : Amphion
Distributor : Durand

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