« Triptyque pour orgue »
« Triptych for organ »

1979
Duration : about 18 minutes

This piece, composed in 1978 -1979, was commissioned by Radio-France. It was created by Bernard Fouccroule at the organ loft of the church "Notre-Dame-des-Blancs-Manteaux" in Paris on May 12, 1980 in the series "Cycle d'orgue de Radio France".
This composition was conceived for a three-keyboard instrument and searched for its main typical features in :
- contrasting colour-tones
- contrasting melodies and registers
- very flexible rhythm with no clear beat
- a type of non-functional harmony, only aiming at making sounds thicker.

Regarding the shape,
the work is divided into three distinct movements, which take advantage of various specific possibilities of the organ, but are not directly linked to each other by similar motives.
The first one
brings out echos and resonant sounds.
A low punctuation like an intense breathing that becomes more and more panting makes the pressure increase towards a paroxysm, after which melodic elements and echos take again the foreground.
The second one
draws its inspiration from the sound of far-off bells, here materialized by two alternating chords.
The third one,
more developed, is a long rise in pressure, built on a few motives in ostinato. Then follows the gradual return to a state of calm, using the same motives, on which a kind of high-pitched prattle comes up and takes responsibility for the extinction of this « decrescendo ».
Édith Lejet

Publisher : Lemoine

Here is the translation of a review by J.M. de Montremy, inserted in the newspaper « La Croix L’événement » dated Tuesday 21 january 1986, about the concert given at the « Maison de Radio-France »’s auditorium by Georges Guillard on the 14 january 1986.
« The concert started with a creation of the « TRIPTYQUE » by Édith Lejet, a disciple of Jolivet : the composer emphasizes the organ’s colour and makes it sound admirably in a brilliant way with the most restrained style possible. It proves that poetry and architecture can get on very well together. »

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