Etang de La Sourdaie - Vagabonde blu

12 min 30 _ I-2011
coul. _ 16:9 _ mini-dv _ 2 plans-séquences
Musique : accordéon solo : “Vagabonde blu” (1998) de Salvatore Sciarrino, extrait de l’album “Push Pull” (1999 - Hat Hut 131) de Teodoro Anzellotti (avec son aimable autorisation)

La composition de Sciarrino “Vagabonde blu” pour l'accordéon de Teodoro Anzellotti devient, avec les images (vibrations de la lumière sur les feuilles, les eaux…), l'esprit du lieu filmé. Cet esprit joue avec la technicité de l'instrument et avec celle du filmage à main levée (à-coups, heurts, tremblements…).
En fin de séquence, l'instrument laisse place à un autre outil œuvrant dans le paysage hors-champ et à la musique brute des lieux…

Extrait du livret accompagnant l'album  “Push Pull” (1999 - Hat Hut 131)

THE BREATH OF THE MACHINE IN SEARCH OF THE QUINTESSENCE OF THE ACCORDION

by Peter Niklas Wilson, june 1999

« (And) what can a composer do when faced with the challenge of writing for an instrument whose image seems so fixed, and so one-dimensional ? As Salvatore Sciarrino puts it : « The history [of the accordion] has a very intensive, strong ‘scent’, which does not interest me that much. I would not be able to compose music that goes along with it. Such a ‘scent’ is invincible. » So what can the composer do ? He can either accept the cliché and deconstruct it (as Mauricio Kagel has done so often) or he can attempt to re-invent the accordion, discover its hidden core, its secret materia prima.

In Sciarrino’s words : « I am more concerned with the substance.
The quintessence of the accordion, without this ‘scent’, can produce
a great piece of music. » But how do you define this “substance“ ?
One approach would be to analyze the fundamental mechanics of the instrument. Playing the accordion : That means pressing keys, moving the bellows to and fro, setting air into vibration in a sort of trembling motion of varying speed and intensity. Sciarrino’s
"Vagabonde blu" (1998) stages a very subtle play of these physical actions : the clicking of keys, the to and fro of the trill, and finally the pure white noise of the “breathing“ bellows :

« What I have discovered for myself is that the accordion can breathe, and that is an incredible experience. Everything vanishes, and what is left is the breath of the machine. […]
I begin with complex, vivid time elements, and what then remains is the soul, the motion. The instrument inhales and exhales, like a lung. This is not an effect, but a very different, anthropologic conception of musical langage. » »

Etang de La Sourdaie 
- Vagabonde blu -

séquence filmée sans la musique :

(pour des raisons techniques, pas d'extrait visible pour le moment) 

Pour des raisons de droits d'auteur musicaux 

je ne mets pas à l'écoute en ligne la pièce musicale  
Vagabonde blu (1998) de Salvatore Sciarrino, 
extrait de l’album “Push Pull” (1999 - Hat Hut 131) 
de Teodoro Anzellotti
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