Jean-Claude Wolff - Marche lente

This page, written in 1992, is deeply influenced by the German romanticism beloved by the composer. It was commissioned by the Trio Controverse, then at the beginning of their career and seeking works for three instruments apparently heterogeneous, flute, percussion instruments and blue harp, ie. a harp that enables the musician to amplify and transform the sounds of his instrument.

In this Slow March, I used with much sobriety the transformation of the sound, mainly using amplification. Thus I could keep the dark beauty of the harp in the low register and the clearness and strengh of its attacks in the high register.

This work includes four linked movements: the Slow March, introduced by the percussion instruments (especially the side-drum), where the drum converses with the harp, March, a violent Allegro given to the tutti and cut by sudden silences, a more quiet Lied, and Deploration (the flute is the leading instrument in these two movements) ending the work in a melancholy atmosphere that delivered using some high-pitched shrillnesses "ff", but also some hesitant lights brought by a much softer melody with slow triplets performed by the flute.

The work is written in a contemporary aesthetic, but is influenced by a musical tradition from Eastern Europe (especially some Jewish music), and also by the memory of older French melody (Berlioz).

		Jean-Claude Wolff Composer
	© G. Bompais
Biography Works Discography Press News Contact Links		*Marche Lente (Slow March)*	Listen
		This page, written in 1992, is deeply influenced by the German romanticism beloved by the composer. It was commissioned by the Trio Controverse, then at the beginning of their career and seeking works for three instruments apparently heterogeneous, flute, percussion instruments and blue harp, ie. a harp that enables the musician to amplify and transform the sounds of his instrument. In this *Slow March, I used with much sobriety the transformation of the sound, mainly using amplification. Thus I could keep the dark beauty of the harp in the low register and the clearness and strengh of its attacks in the high register. This work includes four linked movements: the Slow March, introduced by the percussion instruments (especially the side-drum), where the drum converses with the harp, March, a violent Allegro given to the tutti and cut by sudden silences, a more quiet Lied, and Deploration* (the flute is the leading instrument in these two movements) ending the work in a melancholy atmosphere that delivered using some high-pitched shrillnesses "ff", but also some hesitant lights brought by a much softer melody with slow triplets performed by the flute. The work is written in a contemporary aesthetic, but is influenced by a musical tradition from Eastern Europe (especially some Jewish music), and also by the memory of older French melody (Berlioz). Audio sample : performed by the trio Controverse (Martine Flaissier, blue harp ; Henry Vaude, flute ; Philippe Charneux, percussion instruments).