SKYLINES: À LA RECHERCHE DU FLEUVE
(Skylines: Looking For The St-Lawrence)
TITLE: Skylines: à la recherche du Fleuve
INSTRUMENTATION: SSAA a cappella
TIME: 3m55s
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TEXT
Stèles brutes,
Cromlechs ferreux
Heurtés par les échos de cloches ...
Saint-Jean-Baptise
Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours
Saint-Andrew and Saint-Paul
(À peine audible, il ondoie ...)
Monolithes bétonnés
Sous lesquels serpentent,
Entre racines d’acier,
Son charrois souterrain :
J’ouïe le flot lointain
Et j’embarque.
Snowdon, Villa-Maria
D’où vient cet air limpide
Vendôme, Saint-Heni
Qui souffle au tréfonds de mon âme?
Lionel-Groulx
Parmi les échos, sa voix s’amplifie :
George-Vanier, Lucien-l’Allier
Je décèle sa source
Bonaventure, Square-Victoria
Et je débarque.
Place-d’Armes
Citadelles architectoniques,
Monuments du port,
Entre lesquels j’aperçois,
Saint-Laurent
Sublime, ce guide fluvial
Qui éternellement chemine
Vers la Source ...
Courtesy translation:
Raw steles,
Iron cromlechs
Into which collide the echos of bells...
Saint-Jean-Baptise
Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours
Saint-Andrew and Saint-Paul
(Barely audible, it ripples ...)
Concrete monoliths,
Under which snakes,
Between steel roots,
Its underground carriage:
I hear the distant waters
And I embark.
Snowdon, Villa-Maria
From where comes this clear sound
Vendôme, Saint-Henri
That breathes into the depths of my soul?
Lionel-Groulx
Amongst the echos, its voice amplifies:
George-Vanier, Lucien-l’Allier
I detect its source
Bonaventure, Square-Victoria
And disembark.
Place-d’Armes
Architectonic citadels,
Old port’s monuments,
Between which I perceive,
Saint-Laurent
This sublime river-guide
Which eternally journeys
Towards the Source ...
PROGRAM NOTES
Skylines is a larger work where multiple composers will each be writing a movement about the city, town, or village in which they reside, and where their skylines will affect their composition process in different ways.
"Skylines: à la recherche du Fleuve" is a prototype for this project, and a standalone piece for now. It is a piece where the austerity of the brutalist architecture of Montreal, mixed with the chaos of the church bells ("Montreal" was dubbed "The city with 100 steeples" by Mark Twain) create an initial impressive portrait of the city. But among all this imposing concrete and steel, the listener is invited to pay closer attention to the sound of the St-Lawrence River, barely audible at first. The River, the city's original highway, and in a sense, a river-guide that can bring us back towards our roots.
And among all of this, we hop on a fun subway ride to find the River. Those familiar with the Montréal métro will recognise familiar sounds and station names along the way.
The score features a few graphic score moments and illustrations of the city's more familiar buildings.
Written for Choeur Adleisia during the Musician In Residence Arts Program at the Banff Centre for the Arts, 2024.