Creation: 4 october 2014 at Musica festival, Strasbourg
Comissioner: festival Musica
Duration: 10′
Traces is a score written in Percustra mode which was developed over five months in close collaboration with the six amateur musicians of the Lycée Le Corbusier and Claude Ferrier of the Percussions de Strasbourg.
Contrary to the usual work of a composer who creates a score and then plays it, this piece wanted to take into account the sound desires and technical possibilities of a non-musician. From the outset, the search for sound and rhythm according to proposed models was at the centre of the joint work. This led to the choice of instruments, the idea of more sonorous or more rhythmic parts and the integration of movements to become aware of the space and the sounds circulating in it. The instrumentarium is made up of two marimbas, each played by three, and above all instruments with undefined pitches, such as wooden drums, wood simantra, metals (sheet metal plates, brake drums, tam-tams), skins (toms, bass drums) and cardboard. The final score is made up of the written parts and others which leave room for improvisation, with a predefined choice of instruments, a number of actions and a fixed time frame. The aim is to leave sound traces in the space”.
Annette Schlünz