Allain Gaussin

Philae

The 12th of November 2014 was a day of glory for the Rosetta mission: after a ten-year journey in space, the Philae lander – a minuscule robot whose job was to gather scientific data – set down on the comet Churi to analyse the composition of the soil and evolution of its structure when the shooting star approaches the Sun. This technical prowess also produced photos. Contemplating them could only inspire Allain Gaussin, a follower of spectral music and very keen on astrophysics. How might one translate the intensity of the impressions felt by the viewer of these aerospace photos? Philae, for solo Violin, chooses to make contrasts collide: the smooth and the rough, the bright and the dark, the bounce and the static.
As always, Gaussin seeks to explore the particularities of Violin playing: suddenly arise in turn a fervent motif – this exponential crescendo obtained by means of bow momentum –, harmonic constellations of spiccato demisemiquavers, then a series of repeated notes on the instrument's open third string, which are finally softened by rolled bowing. As a veritable 'astromusician', the composer embarks on the conquest of new sound spaces.