Commissioned of the 12th Competition – 2016

Commissioned piece:

Title: Le Carillon d’Orléans

Composer: Philippe Hersant

Ever since I can remember, I’ve been fascinated by bells. You can find them a lot in my symphonic and lyrical pieces (for example at the end of Château des Carpathes), but they also appear a lot in my chamber music with piano (my Trio is presented as a suite of variations on Sonnerie de Sainte-Geneviève du Mont de Paris by Marin Marais, one of the most beautiful carillons ever written).

Last March, when I was a member of the jury of the 2014 International piano competition of Orléans, I couldn’t walk past the cathedral without thinking of the four-note carillon on which Christophe Moyreau (titular of the great organs in the middle of the 18^th century) wrote his Cloches d’Orléans.

Later, Françoise Thinat did me the honour of commissioning a piece for the 2016 Competition and, naturally, I had the idea to write a great carillon in the same vein as Moyreau did three centuries before me. I imagine the music will sometimes resound and exhilarate, and at other times it will be nostalgic and distant; I want the music to be poetic and refined, and also to make use of the piano’s resonances.

Note of intent from Philippe Hersant
Commissioned by Orléans Concours International for the 12th International piano competition of Orléans

Le Carillon d’Orléans by Philippe Hersant performed by Takuya Otaki, laureate of 2016 International piano competition of Orléans for France Musique:

Composer in the spotlight: Philippe Hersant

Born in 1948 in Rome, Philippe Hersant studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, in particular in André Jolivet’s composition class. First, between 1970 and 1972, and then between 1978 and 1980 he was, respectively, a Casa Velasquez and a Villa Medici grant holder.

Refusing to make compromises with history, Philippe Hersant has forged a language that continues the tradition of all Western music. And though he never sought to create a popular composition technique, he was one of the first of his generation to return to a tonal and modal musical space. However, he has banished all neo-classical inclinations from his work.

Philippe Hersant’s catalogue includes some ninety compositions (without counting his soundtracks and scores for the theatre). He is widely recognized in the current contemporary music scene. He has received commission from illustrious institutions such as the French Ministry of Culture (Missa brevis in 1986), Radio France (Le Château des Carpathes in1992), and Violin Concerto in 2003. He was also the featured composer at the Présences Festival (2004), at the Leipzig Opera (Le Moine noir, 2006), at the Lyons National Orchestra (Paysage avec ruines, 1999), the Montpellier National Orchestra (Concerto for cello n°2, 1997) and at Musique nouvelle en liberté (Cinq pièces pour orchestre, 1997).

He has also won several awards in the world of music: the Musical Grand Prix of the City of Paris (1990), the SACEM Composers’ Prize (1991), the SACEM Symphonic Music Prize (1998), two Victoires de la Musique Classique (2005 and 2010), and the High School Grand Prix Composer’s Prize (2012).

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