SAMIR AMAROUCH

Extending a reflection begun during Lucern Festival Academy 2018, Electronica-1 for 8 musicians is a first step towards a more radical aesthetic. Reducing materials and textures, developing a particular organization of musical figures – whose exploration began with my pieces Appel for harpsichord and electronics or Analogies for 16 musicians –, I look for a form of minimalism inspired notably by the musicians of electronic music Mark Fell or Rashad Becker.

Electronica-1 questions the relationship between rhythm, beat and pulsation through the alternation of synchronized states (homorythm) and desynchronized states (heterorythm). This score proposes a new form of rhythmic notation: in the beginning of the piece in particular, the leader follows a rhythmic line which determines his beat. To each of his gestures corresponds an instrumental attack of the tutti. The measure always repeated differs slightly by the action of the conductor. The pulsation thus becomes irregular, the resulting ovoid rhythm, and while the ensemble evolves towards a more regular looping, the accordion dissociates itself from the beat of the leader and slows down in an extreme way. When the texture becomes out of sync and becomes more fragmented, the beat becomes regular and the leader then has no direct influence on the musicians.

As a tribute to the many aesthetics of electronic music from the late 70s to some contemporary experimental forms, Electronica-1 is the first piece in a series. Various aspects of electronic music will be developed in each one. Here, the rhythmic aspect and granular textures, characteristic of the style, entrusted to the accordion, irrigate the whole piece.  ■

​

​

​

​