Auprés et au loin

‘’Auprès et au loin’’ is a 1954 article that reminds composers of the distinction between the words composing and organizing, as they set upon the realization of a new language. Through my study of Boulez’s work, I found that he is interested in antagonistic concepts and their complementarity in a musical work: soloist/ensemble, horizontality/verticality, musical accidents/programmed events, chaos/order. In line with this idea, a particular phrase written by the composer and musicographer André Boucourechliev regarding Boulez’s article and general approach caught my attention:«Boulez’s language is coherent, closely and from afar… »(auprès et au loin)« …in the broader structure of the piece as well as in the smaller motifs and in its appropriation of the past as well as its desire to open up to the future». Auprès et au loin uses two contrasting musical ideas: a fast and staccatoascending gestureleading tosforzandos, and a slow legato descending line that blurs both rhythm and tempo. At first, the two gestures confront each other, but as we move through the piece, they begin to complement one another. Auprès et au loin was commissioned by theLand’s End Ensemble based in Calgary. It was written between June and July 2015 in Montréal, Québec, Canada.