Five Imaginary Spaces, for piano and electronics (2001)

What happens when a pianist performs in a place where space and time vaccilate, where time, momentarily, flows backwards, where the spectrum irregularly opens and closes, where space is constantly redrawing itself ? Five Imaginary Pieces for piano and real time electronics places the pianist in five interactive environments, in which the electronics react in different ways to the information transmitted by the interpreter.

These five parts are : 1. Helix 2. Raum-Riß (space-rupture) 3. Cataract 4. Spin 5. Topofabric

From the real time spectral analysis and the intensity of the attacks, the computer transforms the sound of the piano. The 'voices', thus modified, are then transmitted to the 'Timée', a sound projection system developped at IRCAM, which controls the direction of projection of the sound source. Thus, the Timée creates the illusion of a continuous transformation of the acoustic conditions of the work's architectural space. In each of the five short parts of the piece, the musical material remains uniform in character in order to establish an imaginary space allowing the elements of this mobile structure to be localised. In some parts (Helix, Spin, Cataract), the grid of the spatial projection is directly connected to the timbre of the 'voices' thanks to the fact that various frequency bands retain a relatively constant projection trajectory. In the other parts (Raum-Riß, Topofabric), on the other hand, a single trajectory can incorporate different musical figures and textures, in order to create a dynamic topology or an acoustic image of the musical objects. Thus, the spatial definition of each sound becomes an important factor in the perception of music.

Aqua Vit, for eight instruments (1999)

When carefully listening to the "trickling" of water running through an enclosed area one can often discern clusters of fleeting but distinct pitches. This is caused by the correlation between the volume and speed of the water and the particular acoustic responsiveness - the "formant" - of the space through which it passes. Using spectral computer analysis I isolated some of these pitches (found in various sources) and quantified the intervals of their occurrence in order to form a series of melodic and rhythmic patterns with which then to compose.

The form of the piece follows an imaginary camera zoom outwards, starting at the molecular level of water, gaining in perspective as the eye receeds, and ending with a view of the horizon defined by the thin line of an ocean.

" BurgerTime was one of the most unusual games in early 80's arcades, a sort of fast food nightmare. You controlled Peter Pepper, head chef at a fast food joint (one of the few fast food joints with a head chef, apparently), who had to deal with a very curious dilemma : what if the food doesn't want to be eaten ? " (1)

" (…) it was in multiplying the fantasies and monstrosities from the most diverse of sources that the vision found its prodigious calling, with Bosch, Mandyn, Huys, Met de Blès, Bruegel, and the other artists of their ilk. The representation of the saint broke with hagiographic tradition - the hermit became nothing more than a pretext, a focal point where phantasmagoria and the hallucinations of the world were recreated. Never before had the anchorite suffered such an attack ; one cannot help but think of Satan rising up against a god. Through their exuberance, their picturesque nature, their deformity, the Western temptations have more in common with the textual character of a Lalita-Vistara than with the Christian historiographic narratives." (2)

" (…) I wanted the temptation of the Devil. I called him. His sons came - hideous, covered with scales, foul, clattering with armour and the bones of death. Some spit flames from their nostrils, some bring darkness with their wings, some wear rosaries of broken fingers, some drink snake venom out of the hollows of their hands ; they have the heads of pigs, of rhinoceri, of toads, all sorts of shapes inspiring terror and disgust. Antoine : (aside) I endured that, once ! (…)" (3)

" Chasing Chef Peter around a maze of platforms and ladders were three fast food enemies-Mr. Egg, Mr. Hot Dog and Mr. Pickle-who would stop at nothing to spoil the burger man's lunch. The gigantic foodstuffs would wipe out one of Peter's three lives on contact, forcing the man in the white uniform either to run away or to fight back with his pepper shaker (yes, his pepper shaker). A nice fistful of pepper to the face would temporarily stun Egg, Dog, or Pickle, but Peter only had a limited supply, so they had to be used wisely. " (1)

" (…) All the borders which separated the worlds crumbled one by one. Following the inorganic things of nature, things created by hand also came to life and went over to the enemy. They spy now, hunt, attack the men who made them. The revolution is widespread. " (2)

" (…) Chef is sacrificed trying to "Earn Extra Peppers & Bonuses, Claims Cones, Coffee and Fries". His blood is spilled with every horrible waving of his small green feet as the Dogs tear at him, their vapid yellow eyes staring ahead, void of any comprehension. It is here that he undergoes the process of resurrection. (…) " (4)

" After beating the demon, I spent twelve years feeding only on perfumes - and having acquired the five virtues, the five senses, the ten strengths, the eighteen substances, and penetrated into the four spheres of the invisible world, intelligence was mine ! I became the Buddha ! (All the Gods bow down ; those with several heads lower them all). " (3)

" Students of this philosophy, through concentrated and thoughtful meditation, may attain the ultimate state of Burger Time, a subtle realization that life is not a spectator sport. Evil must be defeated in the process of divine creation and when you have all your burgers dressed and in row, neither Dog nor Egg nor Pickle can harm you. " (4)

(1) www.yesterdayland.com /popopedia/shows/arcade/ag1022.php

(2) Jurgis Baltrusaitis, Le Moyen ge fantastique. Antiquités et exotismes dans l'art gothique

(3) Gustave Flaubert, La tentation de saint Antoine

(4) The Church of Burger Time (www.violetshivers.com/John/Burgertime/index.html)