This work was inspired by travel diaries, notably Nicolas Bouvier’s L’usage du monde, 1963 (published in English in 2007 under the title The Way of the World). Composing it was an opportunity for me to make an inner journey: a kaleidoscope of impressions, striking sound images that, once juxtaposed, facilitated the drawing of unpredictable musical travels. In Les territoires secrets, I staged abstract landscapes inspired by the poetic and spiritual realms of the book. The travelogue is revealed by the reference to space and the organizing of shapes in various sonic planes down to the limits of hearing, which to me expresses the feeling of vertigo generated by new cultural and spiritual horizons.

As for the musical writing herein, I partly set aside the event approach that ruled my latest productions in favour of a weft-like, occasionally minimal approach. For me, this orchestration of sonic strata symbolizes a form of meditation on the human experience.

— Stéphane Roy [English translation: François Couture, x-19]

Les territoires secrets [Secret Territories] was realized in 2008 at the composer’s studio in Montréal (Québec), and premiered on June 29 2008 by Lucio Garau, spatialization, at the 5th Festival di Interpretazione della Musica Acusmatica in Cagliari (Italy). It was revised in 2019.

Premiere

• June 29, 2008, Festival di interpretazione della musica acusmatica: Lucio Garau, Auditorium — Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia — Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Cagliari (Sardinia, Italy)