There are no fixed rules in the composer/performer collaborative work. Proposition and transformation are two interchangeable processes, which constitute the basis of this dialogue.
As part of the GEMME [Musical Gesture: Models and Experiments] project, we have been studying several cases of composer/performer collaboration. We will concentrate on two instances involving a project for solo string instrument: Parlando (2009), written by Georges Aperghis (*1945) for double-bassist Uli Fusseneger, and The spider as an artist (2014) written by Franck Bedrossian (*1973) for cellist Séverine Ballon. In the first piece, writing procedures typical of Aperghis (such as the accumulation and variation of smalls cells) are amalgamated with the instrumental techniques proposed by Uli Fussenegger. In the most virtuosic preparatory session for that piece, the double-bassist transformed the original proposition to assert his interpretation of the composer’s idea. In the second piece, the main challenge is how the composer can appropriate the idiosyncratic sound material introduced by the performer. Bedrossian, by incorporating in his piece some of Ballon’s specific preparation techniques, assumed the constraint of searching for a timbral development of this material, then challenging his initial compositional stakes. We will contrast different aspects of the Fussenegger/Aperghis and the Ballon/Bedrossian project, search for their common features, and question their degree of novelty with respect to older examples of composer/performer collaboration in contemporary music.

Inventions du geste musical / Inventing Gestures