The tragi-comic nature of the circus is the lifeblood of this work. The circus provides a marvelous metaphor to bring together irrationality and drama, jubilation and self-control: a show spiced up with extreme moments and paradoxical quests where celebration and tragedy hold hands. Following this example, Masques et parades (Masks and Parades) stages the opposite dimensions of introspection and mask, sides hidden and revealed, darkness and light, drama and derision.

The work consists of three sections titled Exultation, Burlesque and Noir silence (Black Silence). The lively, euphoric, even brotherly mood of Exultation contrasts sharply with the grotesque feel and irrational, iconoclastic nature of Burlesque. Noir silence, the last section, draws its inspiration from the art of trapeze, metaphor of the compensatory work done by our psychological mechanisms in answer to the destabilizing assaults of a troubling world out of which one must make sense.

— Stéphane Roy [English translation: François Couture, ix-03]

Masques et parades was realized between 2000 and ’03 at the composer’s studio in St Louis (Missouri, USA) and later in Montréal and premiered on 22 March 2003 as part of the Rien à voir (13) concert series presented by Réseaux at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal. The composer’s writings are recited by Claudine Jomphe and Stéphane Roy. Masques et parades was realized with the help of a productive scholarship from the Canada Council for the Arts (CCA).

Premiere

• March 22, 2003, Rien à voir (13): carte blanche + concert solo, Salle Beverley Webster Rolph — Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, Montréal (Québec)