Title: Paréidolie Composer : Michaël Levinas
Note of intent :
Pareidolia is the mental process whereby, when faced with visual or auditory stimuli, we tend to recognise a previously memorised shape. With Paréidolie, I wanted to establish a new relationship between the creative movement and the phenomenon of memory transmutation in writing, with the history of musical notation that has determined the evolution of language and forms to this day.
What about me and this process of writing for the keyboard, which cannot be reduced to memory or a simple re-reading and reinterpretation of the Baroque past? What do I mean by the term pareidolia, and why does this term refer to the Baroque in my piece? Firstly, the aim was to explore, using a tempered instrument such as the piano, the relationships between polyphony, harmony and melody that are dear to me as a pianist and composer. With Paréidolie, I explore the genesis of new forms, new pianistic techniques and new ways of playing, in the legacy of the Baroque repertoire and its transition to virtuoso emancipation in Romantic writing.
It is rather a resurgence that was necessary in the process of post-contemporary writing for the piano; a recreation and transmutation through memory of certain forms of past writing that proved to be creative in the very foundations of these transmuted writings from the late Baroque period and what I call keyboardism as a synthesis of harmonic and polyphonic parameters. With Pareidolie, it is important to me to revive these foundations through a transformed writing process.
The concept of Pareidolia is therefore not interpreted in the literal sense of the term, but as a principle of variation in memory; a kind of recreation of certain forms and languages – a renewed Phantasia. So that the variations themselves in polyphonic writing, as well as the neo-tonal or modal broken chord grids, turn out to be pareidolia! Pareidolie is therefore the title that came to me for this unprecedented experiment, marked by my recent works related to the piano, notably my orchestral piece “Le cantique des larmes” (2024-25). Paréidolie is structured in three variations (pareidolia) and a recapitulation that transform the initial theme. This initial theme and its pianism is entitled Se briser (To Break).
Throughout Paréidolie, variations transform into syneresis, phenomena present throughout my piano music.
This is by no means a neo-baroque language, but rather a contemporary transmutation of the late 18th-century phenomenon of autogenesis, found mainly in Bach, which consists of constructing and deconstructing harmonic phenomena. Thus, syneresis is perceived as pareidolia, polyphonic canons and strettos. This sound phenomenon results from the unique acoustics of the piano, beyond its falsely equal temperament, from the fortepiano to the modern piano.
Could this be a new way of listening to the falsely “well-tempered” piano that involves the body, breathing, a certain pianistic touch, the guidance of voices by the arm and shoulder, and a technique of substitution of fingerings and half-pedal?
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Biography
Michaël Levinas studied instruments, piano accompaniment, conducting and composition at the CNSM (Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique) in Paris, where he notably attended Olivier Messiaen’s renowned composition class. He was appointed resident at the Villa Medici in Rome. Inspired by the loggias of the Villa d’Este and his dialogue with the painter Balthus and Scelsi, he conceived and created his first works for piano and amplified device, ‘Concerto pour Piano Espace N°2’ and ‘Étude sur un piano-espace’. In 1973, he participated in the creation of the Itinéraire ensemble, founder of the spectral movement. Michaël Levinas is a pioneer in the renewal of instrumental writing and the expansion of the sound palette through his profound knowledge of acoustics and technological environments. His works have been premiered and performed by the most prestigious ensembles, festivals and institutions in France and abroad: Darmstadt, Festival de Donaueschingen, IRCAM, Cité de la Musique, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Klangforum, Le Balcon, Radio France, Musica, La Philharmonie de Paris, the Venice Biennale, etc. Known for his dramatic writing, Michaël Levinas has established himself as an opera composer and has received commissions from major European venues, including La Conférence des oiseaux (1985), Go-gol (1996) and La Métamorphose (2010). Michaël Levinas was an honorary professor of advanced analysis at the Paris Conservatoire. As a concert pianist, he has recorded (and performed in concert) Beethoven’s complete 32 sonatas, J.S. Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, Scriabin’s complete études, and Ligeti’s études. He has premiered numerous contemporary works. He is a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts of the Institut de France.
