The Shadow of the Wind

Available on the CD “Mutations”
Performed by The Royal Symphonic Band of the Belgian Guides

Based on the novel by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
“The Shadow of the Wind” is a work inspired by Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s novel of the same name. It takes the listener on a journey into a gothic universe where unsettling and violent, funny and strange, or idealistic characters cross paths. Love, hate, betrayal, fear, joy…
Just like the novel, the music of “The Shadow of the Wind,” resembling film music, aims to immerse the listener in the dreamlike and phantasmagorical atmosphere of Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s work.

*Mandatory piece for the 2019 CMF competition in the “honors” category.

Travel(s) diaries

Commissioned by the Lyon Metropole Orchestra.

An old man at the twilight of his existence recalls his life through music while flipping through his travel journals, witnesses of his long journey. “Travel Journals” is a work that blends different styles of music, ranging from bel canto to jazz, and even contemporary music.

Metronomus

For woodblock and wind band.

The metronome is to the musician what the ruler is to the architect, the eraser to the artist… It is indispensable and yet we often wish we didn’t have to use it. Useful but exasperating, who hasn’t felt the urge to throw their metronome out the window or smash it with a hammer? Metronomus breaks it apart… but musically

The Little Match Girl

Directly inspired by Andersen’s tale, this piece follows the storyline. It was originally intended to enrich the collection of the “Enchanted Bestiary,” but both the subject matter and the format, as well as the difficulty of the piece, convinced me that it should be a standalone composition.

However, the philosophical concept remains: the magical universe that can arise from a simple match’s flame.

Imaginary Dances

Seville. I am awakened by the sound of a table being moved on a stone floor and what I believe to be utensils. Someone is setting the table for a meal.

For a moment, I thought I heard music, so orderly were the sounds: A E B C B. Automatically, I mentally transcribed the rhythm.

Then, with my eyes half-opened, I discerned the shadow of a flower moving in the wind on one of the white curtains in the room, itself stirred by a gentle breeze.

For a long time, I watched this fragile and ephemeral ballet, subject only to the will of the wind and the unchanging rotation of the sun. I knew it would come to an end, so I kept the dance of this imaginary ballerina in my memory.