“The idea of a grammar of sound is for me above all a way of bringing out a musical meaning” 

Philippe Manoury has collaborated with the Ensemble intercontemporain since its creation in 1976. It is therefore with great emotion that he is preparing to introduce us to his latest and resolutely modern creation: "Grammaires du sonore", which will be performed by the ensemble conducted by François-Xavier Roth at the Cité de la Musique. 

Mirroring the research of Philippe Manoury, this work questions us about the musical sense but also about the orchestra. 

“I have wondered for several years whether there is not some kind of implicit grammar contained within all music. Not a universal grammar, of course, but a specific grammar adapted to each style of music. I finally decided to create many experiments with this in mind by trying to define a syntax which assigns an order of succession (or superposition) between musical ideas. 

The other particularity of Grammaires du Son is its constantly changing genre. Situations evolve constantly, sometimes very quickly, and sometimes by reconfiguring themselves: musicians move to join other groups, forming new alliances. This mobility was inspired by an idea that I have been considering for many years. It is a question of rethinking the orchestra (or in this case the ensemble) in the light of different and more open criteria than those we know, of no longer allowing oneself to be locked into an a priori structure, of finding freedom and a functioning which corresponds to what we dream of when we think of an ideal of organisation between humans. » P. Manoury 

Philippe Manoury - Grammaires du sonore
for ensemble of 29 musicians
World premiere: December 9, 2022 - Cité de la Musique (Paris)
Ensemble intercontemporain
François-Xavier Roth, conductor
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