The idea for this piece came to me as I was recalling the stories I used to make up to put my daughter to sleep — fanciful tales, strongly influenced by the popular series of Philémon albums by Fred. The synopsis might read something like this: “A young girl goes a little too high on a swing. Each time she escapes a little more from the real world. On her last swing, she ‘goes beyond’…” This ‘scenario’ essentially allowed for the exploration of mysterious worlds, located somewhere between reality and pseudo-reality, between the narrative and the musical. The form is deliberately simple and accessible, like a bedtime story.

Il était une fois… (conte sans paroles) was realized in 1986 in the studios of the Groupe de musique expérimentale de Bourges (GMEB), and premiered in June, 1987 at the Bourges International Experimental Music Festival. The piece was commissioned by the GMEB.

Premiere

• June 1987, Synthèse 1987: Concert, Bourges (Cher, France)