{"id":3354,"date":"2011-09-30T16:14:29","date_gmt":"2011-09-30T16:14:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/meeseeks:5080\/blog\/?p=3354"},"modified":"2024-03-21T10:59:30","modified_gmt":"2024-03-21T10:59:30","slug":"in-memoriam-christophe-bertrand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vukutu.com\/blog\/2011\/09\/in-memoriam-christophe-bertrand\/","title":{"rendered":"In memoriam: Christophe Bertrand"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This post is a memorial to my friend Christophe Bertrand (1981.04.24 – 2010.09.17), a young French composer and pianist who died a year ago this month. I first heard his chamber work, Treis<\/em>, at a concert ten years ago by Manchester-based new music group Ensemble 11<\/em>. Impressed by this music, I contacted him and we began a long and deep friendship, discussing his music, along with music and life more generally.<\/p>\n

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I had the honour and good fortune to be able to commission some music from him (Quartet #1<\/em> and Arashi<\/em>), and he dedicated one piece to me (Arashi<\/em>). Christophe’s compositions were marked by the use of Fibonacci sequences and other mathematical patterns and constructs, and so I recognized a fellow member of the matherati<\/a>.  An early death is always sad, especially of someone whose life had had such achievement and even more promise.<\/p>\n

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Christophe co-founded a contemporary chamber ensemble, Ensemble in Extremis<\/a>, and there are details of his works and prizes here<\/a>.  Also, this site<\/a> seems to have updated information about performances of his music, although without  mentioning his passing on.   The composer Pascal Dusapin has dedicated his work, Microgrammes<\/em> (2011), 7 pieces for string trio, to Christophe.<\/p>\n

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I think of all the conversations and interactions we had, and feel the pain of losing future conversations which can now not occur.  And I recall George Santayana’s poem on the death of a close friend, here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Below I list Christophe’s complete works and works in preparation (derived from his former website,  here<\/a>).   One work listed there, Dall’inferno<\/em>, Christophe told me he intended to retract from his catalog, after some of the performers found the score too difficult to play.<\/p>\n

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POSTSCRIPT (2013-05-27):<\/strong>   Someone has uploaded to Youtube a recording of a performance by the Mangalam Trio of Virya<\/a> along with co-ordinated images of the score.  That is a nice tribute.<\/p>\n

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POSTSCRIPT 2 (2013-10-31):  <\/strong>The Music of Today<\/em> series at London’s Royal Festival Hall, curated by Unsuk Chin, held a free concert by players from the Philharmonia Orchestra led by Alejo Perez of Christophe’s works on 31 October 2013.  Works performed were:  Virya<\/em>, Madrigal,<\/em> and Yet<\/em>.   About 100 people were present.  I wondered if anyone else in the audience knew him, and felt his loss.  Here<\/a> is a review by Sofia Gkiousou, who had not heard Christophe’s music before this concert, and to whom the music spoke.<\/p>\n

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POSTSCRIPT 3 (2014-01-21):<\/strong>  A concert to remember Christophe was held in Paris last night, with his music performed by his group, Ensemble in Extremis, and Ensemble Court-circuit.   How difficult it must have been for his former colleagues to play his music last night?  But what an honour to do so.  Details here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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POSTSCRIPT 4 (2023-12-29):<\/strong> I have just seen a book devoted to the music and writings of Christophe (in French):<\/p>\n

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Olivier Class (Editor & Director) (2015): Christophe Bertrand: Ecrits, entretiens, analyses et temoignages.<\/em> Paris: Hermann.<\/p>\n

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CHRISTOPHE BERTRAND LIST OF WORKS:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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Works in Preparation:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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OKHTOR<\/strong>  pour orchestre (15′)
\nCommande du M\u00e9c\u00e9nat musical Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 G\u00e9n\u00e9rale<\/em>
\nCr\u00e9ation 11 f\u00e9vrier 2011
\nOrchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg ; dir. Marc ALBRECHT<\/strong><\/p>\n

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QUATUOR II<\/strong>   pour  quatuor \u00e0 cordes (15′)
\nCommande du Festival Musica<\/em> pour le Quatuor ARDITTI
\nCr\u00e9ation au Festival Musica 2011<\/p>\n

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ARKA<\/strong>  pour soprano, cor, violon et piano (12′)
\nTexte original de Yannick Haenel
\nCommande de l’Orchestre National d’Ile-de-France avec le soutien de la SACEM<\/em>
\nEnsemble des Musiciens de l’Orchestre National d’Ile-de France ; Fran\u00e7oise KUBLER, soprano
\nCr\u00e9ation mai 2012 – Festival Iles de d\u00e9couvertes<\/p>\n

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Nouvelle \u0152uvre<\/strong> pour clarinette, violon et piano (12′)
\nCommande de l’Ensemble Accorche-Note<\/em>
\nCr\u00e9ation \u00e0 d\u00e9finir<\/p>\n

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Completed and acknowledged works:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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Ayas<\/strong> (2010) Fanfare pour onze cuivres et percussions (2′)
\nCommande de l’Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg<\/em>
\nA Cristina Rocca
\nCr\u00e9ation mondiale : novembre 2010, Palais de la Musique et des Congr\u00e8s de Strasbourg – Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg<\/p>\n

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Scales<\/strong> (2008-2009) pour grand ensemble (20′)
\nCo-commande de l’Ensemble Intercontemporain et du Concertgebouw d’Amsterdam<\/em>
\nA Susanna M\u00e4llki et les musiciens de l’Ensemble Intercontemporain
\nCr\u00e9ation mondiale : 24 avril 2010, Concertgebouw d’Amsterdam – Ensemble Intercontemporain, dir. Susanna M\u00e4lkki
\nPremi\u00e8re allemande : 9 mai 2010, Philharmonie de Cologne – Ensemble Intercontemporain, dir. Susanna M\u00e4lkki<\/p>\n

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Diad\u00e8me<\/strong> (2008), pour soprano, clarinette et piano (9′)
\nCommande de l’Ensemble Accroche-Note<\/em>
\nA Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Durieux
\nCr\u00e9ation mondiale : 5 ocotbre 2010, Festival Musica – Fran\u00e7oise Kubler, soprano; Ensemble Accroche-Note<\/p>\n

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Satka<\/strong> (2008), pour fl\u00fbte, clarinette, violon, violoncelle, percussions et piano (13′)
\nCommande du Festival d’Aix-en-Provence<\/em>
\nA Jean-Dominique Marco
\nCr\u00e9ation mondiale : 11 juillet 2008, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence – J\u00e9r\u00e9mie Siot (vn), Florian Lauridon (vc), C\u00e9dric Jullion (fl), J\u00e9r\u00f4me Comte (cl), Jean-Marie Cottet (pno), Fran\u00e7ois Garnier (pc), Guillaume Bourgogne, direction.
\n\u00a9 Edizioni Suvini Zerboni\/SugarMusic S.p.A, Milano<\/p>\n

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Ha\u00efku<\/strong> (2008) pour piano (6′)
\nCommande d’Ars Mobilis, pour le festival “Les Solistes aux Serres d’Auteuil”<\/em>
\nCr\u00e9ation mondiale : 31 ao\u00fbt 2008 – Festival des Serres d’Auteuil – Ferenc Vizi (piano)
\n\u00a9 Edizioni Suvini Zerboni\/SugarMusic S.p.A, Milano<\/p>\n

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Dall’inferno<\/strong> (2008), pour fl\u00fbte, alto et harpe (9′) (Retracted<\/em>:  see note above)
\nCommande du Mus\u00e9e du Louvre<\/em>
\nnon encore cr\u00e9\u00e9
\n\u00a9 Edizioni Suvini Zerboni\/SugarMusic S.p.A, Milano<\/p>\n

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Arashi<\/strong> (2008), pour alto seul (5′)
\nCommande de P. McBurney<\/em>
\nA Peter McBurney et Vincent Royer
\nnon encore cr\u00e9\u00e9
\n\u00a9 Edizioni Suvini Zerboni\/SugarMusic S.p.A, Milano<\/p>\n

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Kamenaia<\/strong> (2008), pour douze voix solistes (6′)
\nCommande de l’Ensemble Musicatreize<\/em>
\nA Roland Hayrabedian et l’Ensemble Musicatreize
\nCr\u00e9ation mondiale : 15 mai 2008 – Marseille, Eglise Saint-Charles – Ensemble Musicatreize, dir. Roland HAYRABEDIAN
\n\u00a9 Edizioni Suvini Zerboni\/SugarMusic S.p.A, Milano<\/p>\n

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Hendeka<\/strong> (2007), pour violon, alto, violoncelle et piano (11′)
\nCommande du Festival “Les Musicales”<\/em>
\nA Bruno Mantovani
\nCr\u00e9ation mondiale : 10 mai 2008 – Colmar, Les Musicales – Ilya Gringolts (vn), Silvia Simionescu (al), Marc Coppey (vc), Claire-Marie Le Guay (pno)
\n\u00a9 Edizioni Suvini Zerboni\/SugarMusic S.p.A, Milano<\/p>\n

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Vertigo<\/strong> (2006-2007), pour 2 pianos et orchestre (20′)
\nCommande de l’Etat Fran\u00e7ais et du Festival Musica<\/em>
\nCr\u00e9ation mondiale : 20 septembre 2008 – Strasbourg, Festival Musica – Hideki Nagano, S\u00e9bastien Vichard (pnos) – Orchestre Philharmonique de Li\u00e8ge, dir. Pascal ROPH\u00c9
\n\u00a9 Edizioni Suvini Zerboni\/SugarMusic S.p.A, Milano<\/p>\n

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Sanh<\/strong> (2006), pour clarinette basse, violoncelle et piano (11′)
\nCommande de l’Etat Fran\u00e7ais<\/em>
\nA Armand Angster
\nCr\u00e9ation mondiale : 11 octobre 2007 – Strasbourg, Festival Musica \/ Ensemble Accroche-Note
\n\u00a9 Edizioni Suvini Zerboni\/SugarMusic S.p.A, Milano<\/p>\n

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Quatuor (n\u00b01)<\/strong> (2005-2006), pour quatuor \u00e0 cordes (20′)
\nCommande du Beethovenfest de Bonn et de M. P. McBurney<\/em>
\nD\u00e9di\u00e9 au Quatuor Arditti
\nCr\u00e9ation mondiale : 19 mars 2006 – Bruxelles, Festival Ars Musica – Quatuor Arditti
\nCr\u00e9ation fran\u00e7aise : 20 juillet 2006 – Festival d’Aix-en-Provence – Quatuor Arditti
\nCr\u00e9ation mondiale de la premi\u00e8re version : 24 septembre 2005 – Kunstmuseum Bonn – Mandelring Quartett
\n\u00a9 Edizioni Suvini Zerboni\/SugarMusic S.p.A, Milano<\/p>\n

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Mana<\/strong> (2004-2005), pour grand orchestre (10′)
\nCommande du Festival de Lucerne<\/em>
\nA Pierre Boulez
\nCr\u00e9ation mondiale : 9 septembre 2005 – Lucerne KKL – Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra, dir. Pierre BOULEZ
\nCr\u00e9ation fran\u00e7aise : 2 juin 2006 – Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio-France, dir. Hannu LINTU
\n\u00a9 Edizioni Suvini Zerboni\/SugarMusic S.p.A, Milano<\/p>\n

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Madrigal<\/strong> (2004-2005), pour soprano et ensemble (11′)
\nCommande de la Fondation Andr\u00e9 Boucourechliev<\/em>
\nA Fran\u00e7oise Kubler et Armand Angster
\nCr\u00e9ation mondiale : 30 septembre 2005 – Strasbourg, Festival Musica – Ensemble Accroche-Note
\n\u00a9 Edizioni Suvini Zerboni\/SugarMusic S.p.A, Milano<\/p>\n

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Virya<\/strong> (2004), pour fl\u00fbte, clarinette en sib (+ clarinette basse), percussions et piano (7′)
\nCommande de M. Francis Rueff<\/em>
\nA Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Kahn
\nCr\u00e9ation mondiale : 19 mars 2004 – Espace 110 Illzach – Ensemble In Extremis
\n\u00a9 Edizioni Suvini Zerboni\/SugarMusic S.p.A, Milano<\/p>\n

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Aus<\/strong> (2004), pour alto, saxophone soprano, clarinette en sib (+ clarinette basse) et piano (8′)   <\/span>
\nCommande de la Radio de Berlin-Brandeburg<\/em>
\nA Philippe Hurel
\nCr\u00e9ation mondiale : 24 janvier 2004 – Berlin, Ultraschall-Festival – Ensemble Int\u00e9grales
\nEnregistrement : CD “European Young generation” par l’Ensemble Int\u00e9grales aux \u00e9ditions Zeitklang (ez-21019)
\nPour l’acheter : www.amazon.fr<\/a>
\n\u00a9 Edizioni Suvini Zerboni\/SugarMusic S.p.A, Milano<\/p>\n

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Haos<\/strong> (2003), pour piano seul (10′)
\nCommande du Festival Rendez-vous Musique Nouvelle de Forbach<\/em>
\nA Laurent Cabasso
\nCr\u00e9ation mondiale : 9 novembre 2003 – Forbach, Festival RVMN – Raoul Jehl, piano
\n\u00a9 Edizioni Suvini Zerboni\/SugarMusic S.p.A, Milano<\/p>\n

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I\u00f4a<\/strong> (2003) pour choeur de femmes \u00e0 huit voix (3′)
\nA Catherine Bolzinger
\nCr\u00e9ation mondiale : 23 mai 2003 – Strasbourg, Palais du Rhin – Ensemble Vocal F\u00e9minin du Conservatoire de Strasbourg, dir. Catherine BOLZINGER
\n\u00a9 Edizioni Suvini Zerboni\/SugarMusic S.p.A, Milano<\/p>\n

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Yet<\/strong> (2002), pour vingt musiciens (10′)   <\/span>
\nCommande de l’Ensemble Intercontemporain<\/em>
\nA Pascal Dusapin
\nCr\u00e9ation mondiale : 29 septembre 2002 – Strasbourg, Festival Musica – Ensemble Intercontemporain ; dir. Jonathan NOTT
\n\u00a9 Edizioni Suvini Zerboni\/SugarMusic S.p.A, Milano<\/p>\n

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Ektra<\/strong> (2001), pour fl\u00fbte seule (5′)
\nA Olivier Class
\nCr\u00e9ation mondiale : 16 juin 2001 – Strasbourg, Cercle europ\u00e9en, Acad\u00e9mie des Marches de l’Est – Olivier Class, fl\u00fbte
\n\u00a9 Edizioni Suvini Zerboni\/SugarMusic S.p.A, Milano<\/p>\n

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Dikha<\/strong> (2000-2001), pour clarinette\/clarinette basse et dispositif \u00e9lectronique (9’30)   <\/span>
\nR\u00e9alis\u00e9e dans le cadre du cursus de composition et d’informatique musicale de l’IRCAM<\/em>
\nA Pierre Dutrieu
\nCr\u00e9ation mondiale : 15 juin 2002 – Paris, Festival Agora, Espace de Projection de l’IRCAM – Pierre Dutrieu, clarinette
\n\u00a9 Edizioni Suvini Zerboni\/SugarMusic S.p.A, Milano<\/p>\n

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Treis<\/strong> (2000), pour violon, violoncelle et piano (10′)
\nMention d’honneur au Festival Gaudeamus 2001\/1er Prix Earplay 2002 Donald Aird Memorial Composers Competition<\/em>
\nA Rosalie Adolf, Anne-C\u00e9cile Litolf et Godefroy Vujicic
\nCr\u00e9ation mondiale : 7 octobre 2000 – Strasbourg, Festival Musica – Rosalie Adolf (vn), Godefroy Vujicic (vc), Anne-C\u00e9cile Litolf (pno)
\n\u00a9 Edizioni Suvini Zerboni\/SugarMusic S.p.A, Milano<\/p>\n

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La Chute Du Rouge<\/strong> (2000), pour clarinette, violoncelle, vibraphone et piano (11′)   <\/span>
\nA Ivan Fedele
\nCr\u00e9ation mondiale : 11 mai 2000 – Strasbourg, Oratoire du Temple-Neuf – Ensemble du Conservatoire de Strasbourg
\n\u00a9 Edizioni Suvini Zerboni\/SugarMusic S.p.A, Milano<\/p>\n

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Skia\u00ef<\/strong> (1998-1999), pour cinq instruments (8′)
\nA Pierre-Yves Meug\u00e9
\nCr\u00e9ation mondiale : 11 mai 1999 – Strasbourg, Mus\u00e9e de l’\u0152uvre Notre-Dame – Ensemble du Conservatoire de Strasbourg
\n\u00a9 Edizioni Suvini Zerboni\/SugarMusic S.p.A, Milano<\/p>\n

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Strofa II<\/strong> (1998), voix de femme, violon et piano (5’30) (Retir\u00e9 du catalogue<\/span>)
\nCr\u00e9ation mondiale : 11 mai 2000 – Strasbourg, Oratoire du Temple-Neuf – Ensemble du Conservatoire de Strasbourg
\nin\u00e9dit \u00a9 Christophe BERTRAND<\/p>\n

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Strofa IIb<\/strong> (1998-2000), pour voix de femme, fl\u00fbte alto (\u00e9galement fl\u00fbte en ut), et piano (5’30)
\nCr\u00e9ation mondiale : 2 juillet 2000 – Wangen (67), Vieux Freihof – Aline Metzinger (voix), Olivier Class (fl), Christophe Bertrand (pno)
\n\u00a9 Edizioni Suvini Zerboni\/SugarMusic S.p.A, Milano
\nPhoto credit:  Pascale Srebnicki (2008).<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This post is a memorial to my friend Christophe Bertrand (1981.04.24 – 2010.09.17), a young French composer and pianist who died a year ago this month. I first heard his chamber work, Treis, at a concert ten years ago by Manchester-based new music group Ensemble 11. Impressed by this music, I contacted him and we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51,56,58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-matherati","category-music","category-obits","p1","y2011","m09","d30","h16"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vukutu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vukutu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vukutu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vukutu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vukutu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3354"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/vukutu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3354\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12444,"href":"https:\/\/vukutu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3354\/revisions\/12444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vukutu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vukutu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vukutu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}