J'ai perdu le désert

Ad Lib presents J’ai perdu le désert, an intense and immersive quintet led by Egyptian-Québecer Nour Symon · نور سيمون for harmonica, oud, piano, violin and cello, as well as Le grand dégel, by Montréaler Marc Hyland, for voice, electric guitar and tape. In a series of sound and physical tableaux enhanced by light and multiphonics, creators Sara Létourneau and Chantale Boulianne talk about their bodies, metamorphoses and potential catastrophes. The result is a surprising and inventive show that leaves a lasting impression. “What we get through the precision of Quatuor Bozzini’s performance and the extended yet still unsettlingly melodious notes of Davachi’s composition is almost like an archaeological excavation of this musical grammar... And what it illuminates is the fragile, but the effortful force that gives what has come to be called civilisation its apparent coherence.” (Michelson) Chance Variations incorporates chance operations and explores repetition through superimposed melodic cells that evolve gradually over time. Scored for vibraphone, bass clarinet, and viola da gamba, the piece has each performer play at different tempos, creating a subtle sense of phase shifting, where the rhythmic alignment is constantly in flux.) The repertoire includes compositions by all the musicians, as well as collective creations and improvisations, and draws on a wide palette of colors and rhythms, for a lively, contemporary chamber music. A series of solos, duets and improvisations for four, each guided by one of the performers, in styles ranging from Latin influences to noisy experimentalism, in surprising cohesion.  Presented by Le Vivier in partnership with La Chapelle Scènes Contemporaines.