Après la lave

About

“Après la lave is written after observing dry lava landscapes on Réunion Island, where plants grow (the process of colonization of the lava). This nuanced, dark, dry, and friable soil is musically expressed by particular timbres, created by playing with fingernails on the metal string or using metal spoons. The plants that emerge—sometimes thick, straight roots, sometimes forming bushes, all floating in the heavy wind, deformed by its force, in different shades of green—appear in the densest and most active moments, with interlaced intervals and a certain noisy component. The wind, an additional force breaking the regular flow of this process, is musically translated by sudden jolts and changes in sonic tableaux. Finally, the carpet of fallen yellow dead plants is evoked by the transformation and repetition of heavy and dark sounds, present from the beginning to the end of the piece. The piece is a grand observational journey of these natural phenomena.”