Frühe, or trying to translate music into leaflet...
Two months ago, on 28 June 2022, I played the last chord of Edvard Grieg's Morgenstemning (Morning Mood - 1874), in an arrangement for four hands, with my piano teacher Patrick de Bruyne.
These luminous notes closed the programme of my end-of-academy recital, marking the end of the ten years of piano lessons that I had attended. The programme was built around Robert Schumann's last piano work, 'Gesängen der Frühe' ('Songs of the Dawn'), composed in 1853. The discovery of this little-played work, at the chance of a public masterclass at the Brussels Conservatory of Music, had really transported me to the point that I was particularly keen to perform it. Alternating music and texts, we chose to take the listeners on a journey through the night, from the darkest moment (with a prelude by Shostakovich - 1954) to the radiant dawn of Grieg's piece, passing through the pieces of Schumann.
This was the culmination of a long musical journey within the Academy of Music, which has brought me a lot of knowledge on all levels and has also nourished and inspired my graphic practice. It was therefore inevitable that I should try to return the favour by providing, through a small booklet, a visual support to this performance.
To illustrate this journey from darkness to light, I asked my regular photographer (thanks to him) to take pictures of the dawn from the office of our flat (yes, at the end of spring, the first light appears around 3:30... fortunately we can program the camera!) I had to find a nice booklet format that would allow me to see the changes in the sky's luminosity simultaneously. I opted for a 'staircase' format which allows to glimpse, even when closed, the three successive skies associated with the three musical works. It is a format that requires precise cuts and nerves of steel to make about fifteen copies!
The concretization of the concept of the program by this graphic object crystallized the whole: this visual support brought me enormously at the level of the play and the atmospheres which I wanted to give to each of the pieces.
The last weeks of rehearsals were very intense, my teacher playing the game 100% to bring me to the recital in the best conditions. I would like to thank him once again for this! The audition itself, which I had been dreading, was a wonderful moment shared with a select audience...
#piano #musicschool #audition #robertschumann #edvardgrieg #dmitrichostakovitch #leaflet #dawn #fromdarknesstolight
KLANT - Brigitte Foissac
CREDITS - Michel Evrard (Photography)
