« Océan Pathétique »
« Pathetic Ocean »
for string trio, flute and harp

1994
Duration : 5 minutes

This piece was composed in a view of taking part in the programme of an exceptional concert organized by the Association « les Amis du Musée Maurice Denis » on the occasion of the European exhibition of paintings by Maurice Denis presented in 1994-1995 in the museums of Lyons, Cologne, Liverpool and Amsterdam.
The concert, which took place on 9 April 1995 at the Royal Chapel of the Saint-Germain-en-Laye Castle, gathered works by five composers, each of them inspired by a picture of Maurice Denis.
The title « Pathetic Ocean » was borrowed from the French writer André Gide’s « Journey on the Pathetic Ocean », which is the first part of his « Voyage d’Urien », published in 1893 with lithographies by Maurice Denis.
This piece of music is short and condensed.
It makes use of several invented modal scales : all of them are made up of seven notes forming symmetries.
This piece, conceived in one movement, has two sections : the first one, which rises from silence, slowly progresses towards a climax. The second one is a variation of the first part.

Unpublished

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