In tribute to Stephan.
To Elena and Sacha.
A low, multichannel pulse gradually disintegrates - entropy always prevails - and is transformed into thunderous rumblings that encompass the listener. The pulse then splits, reminiscent of the beating of a heart.
Vocal transformations, sometimes melodious, sometimes dissonant, draw us into their polyphonic metamorphoses, accompanied by rubbing, sliding and crumpling that materialise the enduring presence. And there is this distant door that refuses to close definitively, that slams, but then opens again and again with a creak that sounds like a call.
Composed in Sandvika, Norway, staying in the very hotel where, in total isolation, tested positive to covid-19, I learned incredulously of Stephan's death in 2020, two days after that of another close friend, even younger. Both brutally lost to cancer.
Composed at night in this theatre where we are currently presenting the latest creation by Cie Michèle Noiret, but where my isolation prevented us from performing the previous production in 2020. Is it a coincidence that it is precisely this company that brings me back here today? Is it a coincidence that I find myself in this place, which revives my memories and reminds me of the state of shock and sadness I felt two years ago?
This same company also provided the opportunity for my first artistic collaboration with Stephan, exactly 25 years ago, on the show < En Jeu >, for which we co-wrote the original music.
So many memories... all rushing back.
Todor Todoroff, Sandvika, September 2022.