IKHTIFA
8′ – 2008
for choir
Ikhtifa
Ikhtifa is an Arabic word that means erasure, disappearance.
Burnt Earth II (1970) by Raoul Ubac (1910-1985) and Sailboats in Cannes (around 1951-1957) by Nicolas de Staël (1913-1955).Two paintings. Two movements. The dense one. The other sparse to the extreme. The composer was guided by these works to ricochet his own obsessions: density, fragmentation, work on the Arabic language … Once again, we find one of his favorite themes as the passage from the collective to the individual, the disintegration of the group … Designed as a diptych, Ikhtifa starts from the thick, rather dark and dense texture of Ubac’s painting. Two forces that attract each other are found in an extended line in the middle of the painting. Streaks that intensify on the painting. The text of the poet and philosopher al-Maari is sung in Arabic. The composer, in search of a form of energy close to the substance of the painting, follows the inflections, the accents, the rhythms of the verses, until the words begin to dance. The first movement is very linear, rather monodic, and gives this sensation of depth and horizontal vibration. The second movement assists the gradual disappearance of the sound material. The words are split up, reduced to the state of phonemes, scattered. Sounds remain like dots or lines, invaded by silence.
Text of the Arab poet and philosopher Abul-ala al-Maari (973-1057) from his collection, Luzum ma lam yalzam (“the useless necessity”)
(translation)
I. People go off in waves and we behind them And they were, and we were happy in error O you my ear, are there in this that you hear only lies and allegations?
Leave time and , leave them to their business
Live your own time and your days, full of doubts and fears
The youth has passed, we have not heard,
Nor even glimpses his uncertain shadow
Balance line that appears as a mysterious point
And annihilates all the other lines, all the letters and all the writers
II. (Phonems)
If death approaches me, I do not hate its proximity
Everyone is afraid of his death and no one avoids drinking it.
Text: Abul-ala al-Maari (973-1057) from his collection
Luzum ma lam yalzam (“the useless necessity”)
Singing language: Arabic
Premiere: June 13, 2008
Venue: Marseille, France
by l’ensemble Musicatreize
direction Roland Hayrabedian
March 5, 2009 Musée Cantini, Marseille by l’ensemble Musicatreize, direction Roland Hayrabedian
May 20, 2009 Avignon by l’ensemble Musicatreize, direction Roland Hayrabedian
March 10, 2013 Les Matins sonnants, Opéra de Marseille & GMEM by l’ensemble Musicatreize, direction Roland Hayrabedian
September 15, 2013 salle Musicatreize, Marseille by l’ensemble Musicatreize, direction Roland Hayrabedian
April 17, 2014 Auditorium John Cage CRR, Perpignan by l’ensemble Musicatreize, direction Roland Hayrabedian
May 31, 2014 Tuscany Festival, Lucca, Italie by l’ensemble Musicatreize, direction Roland Hayrabedian
June 3, 2014 salle Musicatreize, Marseille, by l’ensemble Musicatreize, direction Roland Hayrabedian
June 4, 2014 Festival Les voix du Prieuré, Le Bourget du lac by l’ensemble Musicatreize, direction Roland Hayrabedian
October 23, 2014 Riga by l’ensemble Musicatreize, direction Roland Hayrabedian
February 5, 2016 Temple de la rue Grignan, Marseille by l’ensemble Musicatreize, direction Roland Hayrabedian
December 11, 2016 salle Colonne, Paris by l’ensemble Musicatreize, direction Roland Hayrabedian
© ŠamaŠ éditions musicales 2008
