L'évolution du vol is a cycle of short melodies and instrumental pieces for soloists or small ensembles. The work exploits the double meaning of the word 'vol' (flight and theft) in French. The text, which combines English and French in various ways, is composed of modern poems, augmented with fragments (looted) from Racine, Valéry, Leiris. The music and the text gradually open up to broader references – flight as relief, a dream, as if under the influence of a drug, as an escape, and theft as loot, hidden; like a rubato, this double theme penetrates the musical organization by destroying certain predetermined aspects of the structure. The music, from piece to piece, moves away from the initial rigidity of the repetitive figures, while the text gradually takes on an elaborate vocalization – voice carrying, trembling etc. The instability of the structure of the text and verses appear little by little as the material is subject to flights of fancy.

 

Commissioned by Antwerpen 1993 European City of Culture for the ensembles Accroche Note and Champ d'Action.

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First complete performance in December 1993, Antwerp, by Hilde Torgersen, Ensemble Champ d'Action.

Accroche-Note gave the first performances of nuée (September 1991) and l'ascension (September 1993) and the French premiere of the complete work at Musica Strasbourg 1994.

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Movements 2–7 may each be performed as individual works.

Movements 1 and 8 (la pensée rêverie and historiées faces de la danse) may only be performed as part of the cycle.