Des flammes…

Programme note (excerpt)

Des flammes... takes flames as a metaphor for a concentrated, recurring musical idea that, in sustaining itself through virtuoso fireworks, burns itself out of existence within a fleetingly short timeframe. Upon reflection, however, the designation of the piece as an orchestral “study” serves three purposes: It highlights the composer’s fascination with painter Francis Bacon’s “studies”, the concentration of expression and immediacy of impact of which the composer sought to transcode into the musical medium. “Studies” also suggest a form of preliminary attempt at a subject, which forms the basis of more substantial elaboration at a later point; in this way, their transitoriness notwithstanding, “studies” are testaments to an artist’s process of technical maturation.