Paroles et musique
Samuel Beckett & Morton Feldman
Words and Music, music for radio play for seven instruments (1986)
Text translated (“Paroles et musique”) by Samuel Beckett.
In Paroles et Musique, the role of Musique is left entirely to someone else - a rare occurrence for Beckett. For the first broadcast version, it was the writer's nephew, John Beckett, who was asked to translate the open-ended notations describing the orchestra's behavior: “exaggeratedly expressive love music”, ‘correction’ or “old age music”...
In 1985, Beckett recommended another composer, the New Yorker Morton Feldman, to write a new score. The two men had met ten years earlier and understood each other immediately after the first misunderstanding. When Feldman asked for a text, Beckett replied (with his usual immense politeness): "I don't like my words set to music. - I totally agree," said Feldman. In fact, it's very rare for me to use words. I've written a lot of vocal pieces, and there's not a word in them. - So what do you want?" asked Beckett. To which Feldman replied: “I haven't the faintest idea.”
French version premiered May 20, 2011 at Église Saint-Merry, Paris
Version Feldman
Musical direction Maxime Pascal
Sound projection Florent Derex
Sound design Augustin Muller
Actors Damien Bigourdan and Éric Houzelot
Violin Valentin Broucke
Viola Andrei Malakhov
Cello Clotilde Lacroix
Flutes Yua Souverbie, Claire Luquiens
Vibraphone Pierre Michel
Piano Alphonse Cemin
Production Le Balcon, with the support of Fondation Orange, Attie Studio and Compagnie DCA
Co-produced by Athénée Théâtre Louis-Jouvet
