To Annette Vande Gorne

Au-delà des mille rayons is a musical gesture inspired by the poem Der Panther [The Panther] by Rainer Maria Rilke.

The contained energy, the supple step, the ritual dance around a centre, in cramped circles.
The dizzy will, the weary gaze, the thousand bars.
At times the curtain of the pupils lift, an image enters them.
Goes through the silence and in the heart ceases to be.
It falls, slices, traces, trembles,
It rolls, breaks, in circles it goes
It walks and stumbles
It rumbles and sings
It rocks, reassures and vibrates
It moves away

In other words. The music, though inspired by the poem, is not an illustration of it. Opting for eight channels allowed me to use the archetype of the circle — rotation — as a scheme that structures the whole piece. How I wrote the space changes from section to section. Rotations as close to the centre as possible, a force, life turning on itself. Or, on the contrary, the swirling opens the space and lets us escape, one bar at a time.

— Ingrid Drese [English translation: François Couture, i-24]

Au-delà des mille rayons [Beyond the Thousand Bars] was realized in 2019 at the composer’s studio in Brussels (Belgium) and at the Métamorphoses d’Orphée studio of Musiques & Recherches in Ohain (Belgium), and was premiered on December 15, 2019 at the concert Concert-portrait: Ingrid Drese presented at Théâtre Marni in Brussels (Belgium) as part of the 2019 L’Espace du son festival. The piece was commissioned by Musiques & Recherches and completed with support from the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles (Administration générale de la culture, Service de la musique).

Premiere

• December 15, 2019, L’Espace du son 2019: Concert portrait: Ingrid Drese, Théâtre Marni, Brussels (Belgium)