AIR LIBRE for Orchestra and Piano

This piece, which lasts 5 minutes 40, is the symphonic version of a ballet composed in 1988 for an ensemble of synthesizers, commissioned by the choreographer Elyete BARDOUX (Fréjus). The choreography was based on ample movements of large birds. It is the choreography and the costumes that have directly conditioned the musical writing, the style of this piece, contemplative, meditative, repetitive until the stubbornness.

In this 2023 version for orchestra and piano, the composer has tried to recreate the rich textures of synthesizer pads by varying and superimposing string playing techniques.

We can see the piece as an abstract painting with a succession of different moods all linked by the very repetitive double bass and bassoon motif with its wobbly, irregular rhythm.

At the end of Part E the piece seems to stop until the orchestra is reduced to a single vibraphone note. Gradually, the orchestration expands again with a game of imitation through the different desks of the orchestra. The theme that we then hear in echoes comes from the basic cell of the piece that we discover for the first time on the piano in part B.

The climax of the piece is found at the end of the accelerando of part F, in part G with a piano that goes wild before the return to serenity, to the calm of the coda.

The composer has often thought that this music, this bewitching theme, could be developed for film music.

For more information on the piece and the works of Philippe MABBOUX: www.philippemabboux.com