Works by Otto Laske

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String Quartet No. 3 (1992-1997)

Duration: 10:30

String Quartet No. 3 is essentially a set of variations on a structural theme that pervades all four movements. The composer used the computer for abstractly planning the composition ‘top down’, then interpreted digital output in terms of his knowledge of string instruments. In stipulating an underlying structure, the composer starts with dimply envisioned goals, reads the computer output, and resubmits the input as long as is necessary until his esthetic goals are met. It is the feedback loop between the computer’s algorithms and the living consciousness of the composer that shapes the work. However, the computer has no say in the overall form; it only computes materials for sections. The composer alone decides how to shape the musical form, by sequencing musical materials in time. In this way, the out-of-time work is given over to automation, while the in-time flow of musical materials is the composer’s responsibility.

In this quartet, each movement’s structure is characterized by a difference in the number of independent voices, from 1 (movement I) to 4 (movement II). The more voices are used, the more the degree of freedom to interpret output during the creative process is reduced, so that the requirements for disciplined specification of input to the computer program are correspondingly increased. In the quartet, the change from 1 to 4 independent voices can be traced in the progression from movement I (1 voice) to III (2 voices) to IV (3 voices) to II (4 voices). Voices not computed by algorithm are derived from the computer output through the composer’s interpretation.

In spirit, the quartet follows the composer's belief that structural decisions are fully sufficient to determine esthetic content. Working with stipulations, the composer trusts that his ability to design and plan musical progressions according to rules will yield esthetically relevant results, and that the unity of the material used will guarantee the integrity of the work as a whole.

In the case of String Quartet No. 3, this belief was tested over a five-year period in which the many changes in the composer's life did not deter him from pursuing the work as planned and protecting its integrity. In this sense, the work can be heard as a document testifying to the integrity of the musical mind unassailable by time passing, which is achieved by creating passages of time in a wholly symbolic medium.

Perturbations (1979/81) for chamber orchestra

Duration: 13:00

The title of the composition derives from the idea of a balance alternately perturbed and restored. Meant is the balance between the different syntactic and sonological parameters the music’s score is based on. In this work, there is an overall tendency toward lesser overall diversity as the end of the composition approaches.

Perturbations is through-composed. The composition is based on a computer-generated score that requires the composer's interpretation of score data (in alphanumeric form) in terms of the instruments chosen by him. The input to the program is simple and highly compact; it is in the form of ideas regarding parametrical change over time taking place along a scale from 1 (utmost heterogeneity) to 7 (utmost homogeneity). Upon submitting his design as program input, the composer's major task lies in interpreting computed materials in correspondence with self-defined interpretation rules, on the basis of his understanding of the computed materials as well as the instruments chosen. We are dealing with a form of analysis-based interpretive composition.

Perturbations as was premiered during the 1981 International Computer Music Conference at North Texas State University, Denton, Texas, U.S.A (Thomas Clark, conductor). The European premiere took place at the 1982 Darmstadt Ferienkurse für Neue Musik, Darmstadt, Germany (Robert Platz, conductor).

Reflections (1982) for brass quintet

Duration: 10:45

Reflections is in three movements: Moderato, Allegro, and Andante, of about equal length (3:45,3:15,3:45). It is based on an interpretation of compositional material generated by a computer program. The program requires the composer to encode his musical ideas in a structure formula which serves as input to the score generator. This material is then analyzed by the composer, and a set of interpretation rules is defined for producing an individual composition.

In this kind of composition, sound emerges from manipulations of syntactic parameters such as pitch, loudness, tone-height, etc. Based on the idea of seven degrees of order/disorder, these ‘parameters’ are associated with each other to form different textures. The musical form is created by how these textures are sequenced in real time, including contrapuntal arrangements of simultaneity.

The piece is functionally a quartet (trumpet, trombone, horn, tuba). The interpretation of the generated material is geared toward emphasizing increasing instrument mixture and increasing registral discontinuity.

Reflections was premiered in a NEWCOMP (New England Computer Arts Association) concert at Little Kresge Theatre, M.I.T., Cambridge, MA., in 1983.

Atlantis (1983) for guitar and clarinet (recorder)

Duration: 11:30

Atlantis owes its name to a choreography by Peg Brightman of Choreo, Boston, MA., for which it was written. The piece is through-composed; it consists of seven main sections: A (Adagio), B (Moderato), C (Andante), D (Allegretto), E (Andante), F (Allegro), G (Adagio). Section C is a clarinet (or recorder) solo, while section E is a guitar solo. The closing section, G, is a meditation.

Atlantis was premièred in Little Kresge Theatre, M. I. T., in May of 1983. It was subsequently performed at the Polish Academy of Music, Warsaw, Poland, in April of 1984, and at Brno Conservatory, Brno, Czechoslovakia, in March of 1985.

How Time Passes (1967/69) for chamber orchestra

Duration: 15:00

How Time Passes is an exploration of musical texture both in terms of density and color. Texture, being the primary form-giving parameter, is varied carefully from very sparse to dense and back to sparseness at the end of the piece. The composition was inspired by musics of Karlheinz Stockhausen and Iannis Xenakis.

How Time Passes is in a form articulated by the succession and alternation of orchestral groups. Initially, only woodwinds and brass are active; they are later followed by, and finally join with, two trumpets and piano. After the piano drops out, a short section for pure brass follows. The piano enters intermittently. Finally, the woodwinds return, reinstating the initial instrument grouping. The woodwind return is followed by the appearance of the total ensemble that continues to the end of the piece, only interrupted by a short piano solo. Near the end, a more ‘pointillistic’ texture takes over which, again, engages the entire ensemble.

In 1968, the piece was performed without its piano & brass sections. Its performance would thus be a premiere. The piano part of the piece constitutes an independent composition, carrying the title Piano Piece no. 2.

Radiation (1965/67) for chamber orchestra

Duration: 5:30

Radiation evolved from 1965 to 1967. It is inspired by music of my friend Renato de Grandis, a Venetian composer of opera. The piece owes its title to the idea of using different orchestra groups in varying combinations, with a single point of simultaneity near the end of the piece from which everything radiates. Its design, although not literally based on algorithms, is owed to a ‘top down design’ in my mind, and in that sense “computer music.”

Radiation was premiered in Tanglewood, MA, by Lutz Herbig, and broadcasted by Boston Radio in 1967, when I was a Fellow in Composition at the Berkshire Music Center. It was performed again in 1981 at North Texas State University, Denton, TX, by Thomas Clark, during a computer music conference.

Woodwind Quintet (1967/72) for fl., ob., cl., bcl., and bsn.

Duration: 6:30

Woodwind Quintet is a piece of free (that is, non-algorithmic) composition, in contrast to most of the composer's music which uses computer programs. In its temporal vicinity to Piano Piece no. 1 (1967), it foreshadows the rule-based thinking that has increasingly supplanted ‘free’ or ‘example-based’ composition. The piece is in one through-composed movement.

Woodwind Quintet was premiered by The Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, David Stock conductor (1972).

Piece for Organ and Percussion (1998-99)

Duration: 17:15

This work is my first piece for organ and percussion. I wanted to treat the organ in a secular way and bring together two very different textures. Percussion is used in all movements except movement II, and is used largely soloistically in movement III. The four movements of the piece differ in their syntactic structure, especially with regard to harmony (intervallic structure), but also in terms of meter, density and tempi.

The organist has a great deal of freedom in his/her registration of the piece. In the first movement, organ and percussion are in constant contrapuntal interchange, timpani and drums increasingly participating. The second movement is an organ solo with some chordal accents, ending on held chords. The third movement, too, has a predominantly contrapuntal texture, enriched by the participation of chimes and metal. Filigree work in the organ is predominant in the fourth movement, often taking place over long-held metallic sound.

The piece is awaiting its premiere.

Monologue Interieur (1968) for hr., vla.

Duration: 3:00

This short piece for horn and viola captures the two inner voices of reflective thinking. Both are part of the same consciousness. Typically, their intercourse is so fast that they are mistaken for being a single voice that asks questions and gives answers.

In the score, the dialogue of the voices exchanging questions and answers has been slowed down, enough for being able to follow their discourse more attentively.

Vienne la nuit sonne l'heure (1968) for violin, cello and percussion

Duration: 5:15

Vienne la nuit is inspired by the poem Le Pont Mirabeau, by Guillaume Apollinaire (Alcools, 1912). This famous poem has a refrain which goes:

Vienne la nuit sonne l'heure,
Les jours s'en vont je demeure.
-------------------------------------
May night come, the hour ring,
the days are passing by, I remain.

To represent the constancy of the lyrical "I," the piece uses the slow unfolding of a single (constant) 12-tone set whose elements never change their octave position. (They are fixed in registral space.) Thus the piece is based on 12, and only 12, tones. This is achieved by ‘micro-counterpoint’ that heavily draws upon a multitude of rhythmic variations of the same pitch set and registral range. Through this compositional technique, the music strives to rival the purity and simplicity of Apollinaire's poem.

In its technique, the composition is indebted to Konrad Lechner, the German composer who taught me micro-counterpoint -- the careful rhythmic elaboration of single tones.

Vienne la nuit was written for the cellist Jay Humeston, at New England Conservatory of Music, Boston, where it was premiered in 1968.

Duets No. 1-2 (1965/67) for vc., pno.

Duration: 1:30 ea.

These two pieces reflect my compositional beginnings, centered on writing counterpoint that is minutely controlled, as in Anton Webern’s late work. Both duets are miniatures, together lasting no more than 3:00 min. Due to the lack of rhythmic homogeneity and the occurrence of sudden changes of register, they are intense, expressionistic music,

The two duets differ in character, however. Duet no. 1 is rather relaxed, while Duet no. 2 is somewhat frantic. Together, they form two contrasting pieces of an overall form. They share the spirit of economy and bareness stemming von Webern’s late work.

Interchanges for 2 pianos (1985)

Duration: 10:25

As the title conveys, the piece is built on the idea of an exchange between the two instruments, in this case, two pianos. The piece is in four movements, marked "Forcefully," "Precisely/Delicately," "Scherzando," and "Meditatively."

In the first movement, the exchanges are entirely smooth, merging the two instruments together in a common effort and movement through time, while in the second, chordal structures introduce a vertical emphasis that is broken up only at the end. The third movement, virtuosic at its conclusion, combines the features of the first two movements. The piece ends meditatively, in a choral-like fashion, played by a single instrument, or by the two instruments in unisono.

The last movement is dedicated to Peggy Brightman, my wife of 13 years.

B. Solo Instruments

Piano Piece No. 1 (1967)

Duration: 5:00

In Piano Piece no. 1, I laid the groundwork for my future work in computer-based composition. The piece represents rule-based composition, only that the computer program embodying the rules is a virtual one, existing only in my mind. The compositon was pre-designed to a level of great detail, and only then written out in terms of actual notes.

Piano Piece no. 1 was performed at Composer's Forum, New York City, in 1969.

Piano Piece No. 2 (1969)

Duration: 7:00

Piano Piece No. 2 was designed as an interlude for the composition How Time Passes. It stands independently of the latter composition. The composition is a virtuoso piece, requiring a highly skilled performer. Although influenced by instrumental computer music, the piece is an example of free composition, not based on any computer program.

Piano Piece No. 2 is awaiting its first performance.

Match for Piano (1989)

Duration: 7:30

Match owes its title to the idea of matching two performances, either two live performances (as a piece for two pianists), or two performances one of which is live, and one of which is pre-recorded. It is based on a computer-generated alphanumeric score. The piece is dedicated to pianist Max Lifschitz who commissioned and first performed it.

Match is an example of what I call interpretative composition, a process in which the composer interprets computer-generated numerical output both in harmonic and rhythmic terms. In this process, the composer relies on his inner hearing, as well as on his analytic skills applied to encoded musical data. The computer functions as a kind of alter ego provoking the composer to unlearn old ways and learn new ones.

Match was performed at the University of Albany, N.Y. (1990); in Boston, MA (1990) and Arnhem, The Netherlands (1989).

Fluctuations for flute (1982)

Duration: 8:00

Fluctuations was commissioned by Choreo Dance Company, Cambridge, MA, for a modern dance solo called Windshadows designed by Peggy Brightman. Both dance and music are based on ideas encoded as input to a computer program for composition. The choreography employs Koenig's Project One program, the music, Xenakis' ST-10 program.) The first program made possible a close collaboration between choreographer and solo performer as equal partners, while the second program delivered output from which a composition for solo flute was formed.

Fluctuations was premiered in 1982, during a NEWCOMP (New England Computer Arts Association) concert in Cambridge, MA., and was subsequently presented in Stuttgart, Darmstadt (Germany), Warsaw, Krakow (Poland) and Brno (Czechoslovakia). It is dedicated to the late Kimball Stickney whose programming effort permitted me to use a PDP-version of Xenakis' program, which was possible only at night, during off-working hours.

Immersion for bassoon (1987)

Duration: 11:30-12:00

Immersion derives from a computer-generated score produced with the aid of PRECOMP, a Macintosh adaptation of G.M. Koenig's Project One program. It is a piece of interpretative composition, in that the alphanumeric score data produced by the program are interpreted by the composer for a particular instrument.

The piece was commissioned by Choreo Dance Company, for a choreography by Peggy Brightman.

Immersion was premiered in 1988 during a NEWCOMP (New England Computer Arts Association) concert in Cambridge, MA., by Bill Mallone. A second performance was given by Clint Smith at New England Conservastory of Music, Boston, MA., in 1990.

Cantus for violin (1977 version)

Duration: 12:30

Cantus is partly a piece of free composition, partly is it based on output from a computer program (Koenig's Project Two). The computer delivers only material for individual sections. Their initial planning and final sequencing into an overall musical form is strictly the composer's task.

Cantus consists of a sequence of 25 sections, following each other in an order determined by the composer after a great deal of experimentation.

Cantus is dedicated to Kenneth Sarch. Revised in 1977, it was first performed M, Hölschky, Stuttgart, Germany (Studio der Landesgirokass) in 1981, and thereafter by Nancy Cirillo, USA, in a 1982 NEWCOMP (New England Computer Arts Association) concert in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Soliloquy for cello (1984)

Duration: 12:00

Soliloquy was written for, and is dedicated to, virtuoso Robert Black, Hartford. The piece attempts to model the personality of the instrument.

Soliloquy was premiered in Delft, Holland, in 1984. Black subsequently presented it at NEWCOMP (New England Computer Arts Association), Boston, MA;New York City, NY; the New Music Festival at State University of Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, and at the Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnology Karlsruhe, Germany.

C. Voice and Chamber Ensemble

De Aegypto (1965) for tenor and chamber orchestra

Duration: 9:00

De Aegypto is a cantata for tenor voice and chamber orchestra. It owes its title to the poem of the same name by Ezra Pound. Material for the total rewrite of the piece was computed in 1988, and a computer-based renotation begun in 1992, but the revision was never completed. As a result, the work is a sketch awaiting a curious and inventive conductor.

De Aegypto is through-composed. It celebrates the poet's song, as does the poem, and is dedicated to my friend, the late poet and composer Gitta Steiner.

I, even I, am he who knoweth
the roads through the sky,
and the wind thereof is my body.

I have beheld the lady of life,
I, even I, who fly with the swallows.

Green and gray is her raiment,
trainling along the wind.

I, even I, am he who knoweth
the roads through the sky,
and the wind thereof is my body.

Manus animam pinxit.

My pen is in my hand
to write the acceptable word,
my mouth to chant the pure singing.

Who has the mouth to receive it,
the song of the lotus of Kymi?

I, even I, am he who knoweth
the roads through the sky,
and the wind thereof is my body.

I am flame that riseth in the sun,
I, even I, who fly with the swallows.

The moon is upon my forehead,
the winds are under my lips.
The moon is a great pearl
in the waters of sapphire.
Cool to my fingers the flowing waters.

I, even I, am he who knoweth
the roads through the sky,
and the wind thereof is my body.

--Ezra Pound

Vocalise (1982) for soprano, cello and percussion

Duration: 12:00

Vocalise is based on a surrealistic poem from the composer's German volume Tönungen. It consists of three movements and is based on the interpretation for voice and instruments of a computer-generated score produced by G.M. Koenig's Project One program.

In the first movement, the text is used in a free English translation, while the second movement employs the German original. The third movement uses no text at all, which explains the composition's title. In this movement, vowel changes are at the discretion of the singer. In the different movements, the composer intended to capture the different facets of the poem, making the appropriate choices in the underlying score and its orchestration.

The text of the first two movements is that of the poem Engel (Angel; 1955) from Tönungen (1955-1968), translated into English by the composer:

The premiere of the work took place during a 1983 NEWCOMP (New England Computer Arts Association) concert in Little Kresge Auditorium, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

Voices of Night (= String quartet #2 with voice) (1985)

Duration: 12:30

Voices of Night is based on two poems from the composer's volume My Fancy (1968-78) dealing with the notion of Night. The composition is in five movements, three of which [I,III,V] comprise a soprano solo. The work is dedicated to Annelise Laske, my mother and sponsor of the Annelise Laske Studio in which I have produced my electroacoustic music since 1989.

Voices of Night was premiered by Neva Pilgrim and the Tremont Quartet during a NEWCOMP (New England Computer Arts Association) concert of 1986.

Ils sont heureux (1969) for baritone, trombone and piano

Duration: 3:05

The text of this composition is taken from the Elégies of the French poet Guillevic, published in Exécutoire (1947). The composition adopts the title of the poem.

Ils sont heureux was premiered at the Oslo Conservatory, Norway, in 1973.

Klage (1968) for alto and violincello

Duration: 4:20

The text of this composition is taken from an expressionist poem written for the occasion by the composer, entitled SORGE.

Sorge. Sorge. Sorge.
Verlorene stunden alter
andacht, altverlorener.

Stürzt es, fâhrt es
auseinander,
singt,
sinkt.

Aber. Aber. Aber
der schlummer.

--Otto Laske

Song (1965)

Duration: 3:00

Song 1965 is is a love song invoking the inevitability of death. It is written on a text by Edna St. Vincent Millay (Collected Poems, Harper & Row 1948 [1921)). The text is as follows:

And you as well must die,
beloved dust, and all your beauty
stands you in no stead.

This flawless, vital hand,
this perfect head, this body
of flame and steel,
before the gust of death
or under his autumnal frost
shall be as any leaf,
be no less dead than the first
leaf that fell.

This wonder fled, altered,
estranged, disintegrated, lost.
Nor shall my love avail you
in your hour.

Inspite of all my love,
you will arise upon that day
and wonder down the air,
obscurely as the unattended flower,
it mattering not how beautiful you were,
or how beloved above all else that dies.

--Edna St. Vincent Millay.

D. Orchestral Music

Symmetries for orchestra (1982)

Duration: 10:30

Symmetries owes its name to the features of the structure formula that serves as input to a computer program for composition generating the material for this work. In this formula, the composer defines a syntactic deep structure in terms of the degrees of order/disorder that characterizes essential musical parameters, thus encoding his compositional plan.

The formula employs 7 degrees of change, from 7 (highest degree of constancy) to 1 (highest degree of change), made explicit in four movements, A to D:

The piece is based on two tendencies of parametrical counterpoint:
• increasing sense of meter and dynamic grouping;
• decreasing sense of pitch centeredness and tone color grouping, with register distribution deviating from both.
A compromise between these tendencies is reached in the second part of section B.

In semantic terms, the movements can be characterized as follows:
A. Introduction increasing in tempo to the midpoint, and returning to the initial tempo.
B. Contrasting middle part pairing an Adagio and an Allegro Vivace.
C. Third movement showing increasing tone color mixture, in tempo growing from slow to fast.
D. Final movement that reaches a plateau of slow movement, then increasing in speed until the end.

Symmetries is my only piece for orchestra. It is still awaiting its premiere.

E. A cappella

Nachtstuecke (Night Pieces; SATB) (1981) for 12 voices

Duration: 17:30

Nachtstücke is a Requiem for my father, Willy P. Laske (1903-1981), whose supportive influence I have felt throughout life. The piece is structured in six movements, corresponding to six poems from the composer's German poetry collection Tönungen (1956-1968).

The work’s central topic is the occurrence of Night, addressed both as a real event and metaphorically. The sequence of poems chosen captures a spiritual journey.

In the first poem [Versprechen], Night is addressed by the subjective I as a medium through which to confirm its otherworldliness, and to seal this confirmation with a promise [viz., to address the shimmering face of dreams]. In Geist, Night is the metaphorical landscape in which the Thou is perceived. Here, the other person is a glow of fire in that night. In Gebet, Night is a shelter for lovers who receive its blessings as a reward for giving themselves up to each other. In Verrinnen, Night stands for Death, thus acquiring a social dimension, shared by all humans. It is perceived as a place where loneliness continues unabated. In Reflexion, we return to the poetic I, but its scope has been broadened to encompass all of mankind. Now it is a particular part of night, viz., midnight, which is contemplated. Night is seen as a secret that playfully mirrors the universe. In the last poem, Bitte, Night again relates to the Thou; its slow arrival as a real event becomes a metaphor for how to meet the Thou, in absolute stillness.

The work is based on an interpretation of score materials generated by Koenig's Project One program. The program defines an environment in which the composer first defines the basic musical material to be utilized. After analyzing the output, the composer defines a set of interpretation rules for making musical sense of the generated materials.

In Nachtstücke, musical ideas were encoded into the following structure formula (serving as input to the program):

In this formula, 7 indicates the highest degree of constancy, while 1 indicates constant parametrical change. Thus, metric flow has a tendency to become more noticeable toward the end of the composition, supported by strong dynamic grouping. Harmony shows no particular tendency, but Register indicates progressive voice mixture until movement IV, then a reversal toward individual melodic lines provoking contrapuntal texture.

In the interpretation of the material from Project One, the poetic texts had a major influence both locally and on the elaboration of the overall form.

Nachtstücke is awaiting its premiere by an expert conductor schooled in a cappella music.

Des Menschen Seele (SATB) (1987) for mixed choir a cappella

Duration: 12:00

Man's soul is like Water.
From the Heavens it cometh,
To the Heavens it riseth,
And to Earth it must return,
In constant fluctuation.
J.W. von Goethe

In this work for choir a cappella (SATB), I undertake it to capture the manifold movement alluded to in Goethe's poem, using free and strict modes of contrapuntal writing. Each of the five movements of the work concentrates upon a single line (idea) of the short text, except for the first movement, which states the text in full.

The work is a Requiem for my in-laws. The dark tones do not predominate. I rather conceive of the work as a celebration of life.

As most of my compositions, Des Menschen Seele is based on musical algorithms. The piece was composed by interpreting the output of a program for computer-aided composition, and by notating it on the Macintosh computer. Input to the program consisted of composer-defined materials for each of the parameters (pitch class, register, metric position, duration, and dynamics). In particular, pitch class information consisted of single melodic lines, one for each line of text.

Although the work’s first performance was by medium-sized choir, I can imagine the work sung by just four voices.

Kyrie Eleison (SATB) (1968) for 18 female and 18 male voices

Duration: 9:00

Kyrie Eleïson is written on a free selection of texts of the catholic Ordinary, including an invocation of Mary, protectress of Chestochowa, in Polish. In correspondence with the text, the score is divided into four parts, A to D.

The distribution of texts is as follows:
A (bars 1-39) Christe Eleïson
B (bars 40-59) Kyrie Eleïson
C (bars 59-73) Christe Eleïson; laudamus te, benedicimus te, glorificamus te.
D (bars 73-111) Qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis, quoniam tu solus sanctus, Kyrie;

-- i ty co jasnej bronisz Chestochowy
(you who protects the radiant Chestochowa),
suscipe deprecationem nostram.

Kyrie Eleison won first prize in the 1969 Gaudeamus Festival in Bilthoven, The Netherlands, but has never been performed. I consider it as one of my major works. It will have to wait for a risk-taking and expert conductor.

Quatre Fascinants (A, T) (1992 version) for three altos and three tenors

Duration: 7:45

Quatre Fascinants is written on a text of the same title by René Char. The poem comprises four sections: Le Taureau (The Bull), La Truite (The Trout), Le Serpent (The Snake), and L'Alouette (The Swallow). The composition itself consists of six parts, each of which is written for a different combination of the six voices, as follows:

I. Le Taureau, AT [0:55]
II. Le Taureau, ATT [1:00]
III. Le Truite, AAA [1:35]
IV. Le Serpent, TTT [1:50]
V. L'Alouette, AAT [1:20]
VI. L'Alouette, AT [0:55].

The composition is in rather strict twelve-tone counterpoint. I attempt to render the transparency and austerity of René Char's text. The score is based on output produced by G. Koenig's Project Two program for interpretative composition, in which the composer prepares a simple input and resubmits it until the output matches his intention without further need for editing.

Quatre Fascinants has matured over 15 years; it was revised in 1992 to achieve greater transparency. The sections of the piece are to be performed in the order indicated. If possible, the alto and tenor voices of nos. I and VI should not be identical.

Quatre Fascinants
by René Char

I Le Taureau

Il ne fait jamais nuit quand tu meurs,
Cerné de ténèbres qui crient,
Soleil aux deux pointes semblables.

Fauve d'amour, vérité dans l'épée,
Couple qui se poignarde unique parmi tous.

II. La Truite

Rives qui croulez en parure
Afin d'emplir tout le miroir,
Gravier où balbute la barque
Que le courant presse et retrousse,
Herbe, herbe toujours étirée,
Herbe, herbe jamais en répit,
Que devient votre créature
Dans les orages transparents
Où son coeur la précipita?

III Le Serpent

Prince des contresens, exerce mon amour
A tourner son Seigneur que je hais de n'avoir
Que trouble répression ou fastueux espoir.

Revanche à tes couleurs, débonnaire serpent,
Sous le couvert du bois et en toute maison.
Par le liens qui unit la lumière à la peur,
Tu fais semblant du fuir, ô serpent marginal!

IV L'Alouette

Extrême braise du ciel et première ardeur du jour,
Elle reste sertie dans l'aurore et chante la terre agitée,
Carillon maître de son haleine et libre de sa route.
Fascinante, on la tue en l'émerveillant.