© G. Bompais
Nuit (Night)
The beautiful poem by Max Jacob fits in with the sacred, magical function, which is inseparable from the music; the melodic line mixes a certain exaltation and the ultra thematism coming from the small Shoenbergian form.
A few key words from the text: nothingness, shadow, void, pity, death, cross, are put forward by the soprano, around whom the quartet build a subtle sonic fabric, or prolongs, mainly through the viola and cello, the vocal melodic inflections. The inflections are hardly sustained, more like impulses, movements of two or three notes interrupted by silences.
After a short exaltation, everything seems to be solved in the last phrase, on the two most beautiful verses of the poem: "I am a plant shaken by Hell/ which wings in times past extended towards the sea" where the voice like delivered, states an ascending melody which seems to take to the distance, to infinity. However this impetus is hampered by the strings constant glissando and the piece ends in a very dark extreme-low register.