Composition Commission issued to David Hudry

Ensemble Court-Circuit, Boulogne, France

Transmission I is a piece for solo clarinet and an ensemble of 7 instruments (flute, oboe, bassoon, piano, percussion, violoncello and double bass) written for the Ensemble Court-Circuit. It is a piece that will explore different types of interactions between the solo instrument and the ensemble. The solo instrumental part can be played as a solo piece (alla berio).
Transmission is a reference to the mechanism that communicates between a motor and its receptor. The composer, David Hudry, is interested in this particular notion of energy transference. In this new composition, the transference of energy takes place between the clarinet and the ensemble or a part thereof. The gestures and sounds of the clarinet will be re-orchestrated and re-worked into the construction of the larger ensemble. Certain clarinet gestures or specific playing techniques (eg. multiphonics, vocal sounds), will first be recorded and then, using a software called Orchids (Ircam), its content will be analyzed and the clarinet material will be resynthesized acoustically.
The idea of the transmission process was first thought of in the sense of the soloist's relation to the instrumental ensemble, but the inverse relationship also exists.
- Case 1: the clarinet initiates a musical gesture or a specific technique, passes it to the ensemble, which expands and amplifies it. The ensemble can than either act as a “soundbox” or become a medium for a gradual transformation of the clarinet sound. There will sometimes be several types of transformations for the same sound material of the clarinet (from nearest to furthest possible of the original sound). This is like the idea of a ripple where the original idea proliferates. David Hudry will organise these transformations so that they can be played either as a progressive sequence showing the gradual distortion of, and distancing from the original musical material. These transformations can be juxtaposed brutally to create strong impacts in the dramaturgy of the piece. David Hudry also plans to superimpose the original clarinet material with one of its transformations to create a new timbre through this hybrid.
- Case 2: Inversely, the ensemble initiates a complex musical texture filled with a lot of rhythm activity and energy, the clarinet emerges from this sound mass and emphasizes (reveals) details of this texture and sheds light on the inner workings of the sound mass.

September 10, 2019
Conservatoire de Paris, France

Further information:
court-circuit.fr