« Hommages »

To Jean Thorel
Composed in 2005
Duration: 4 minutes
Commissioned by the “Ensemble Orchestral Stringendo” (EOS)
Premièred in Paris, Annex of the 14th district’s town hall
12, rue Durouchoux, 75014 - Paris
on June 14th, 2005

Hommages was composed during springtime 2005, on Jean Thorel’s request.
Following his wishes, this page of music borrows its instrumentarium from the original version of Le Roi David given in Mézières near Lausanne on June 13th, 1921; the number of Honegger’s instruments is reduced to only eight [flute taking piccolo, oboe, clarinet in B b, bassoon, horn, trombone, percussion (one instrumentalist), double bass].
Three musical cells, right away subjected to modifications, were also borrowed from Le Roi David: they are the only building material used in Hommages.
Besides paying homage to Honegger, Jean Thorel and EOS, this work also refers to two composers it was dealt with at the Paris Conservatory (“Twentieth Century Music” course, 2005 programme): “rhythmical characters” or permutations that Messiaen just loved are exploited, as well as symmetries and bridge forms, so frequent in Bartok’s music.
Such are the circumstances in which this piece was composed, in remembrance of Honegger’s oratorio, although Le Roi David was more popular in the fifties than it is nowadays.

Unpublished

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