An introspective microcosm. Camouflaged sounds coming from everyday objects, greatly perennial living beings or miscellaneous recordings made on my travels (Seychelles, New Zealand) and in other favourite locations along my strolls.

Coleopterans, dipterans and hemipterans were here long before us and left indelible ecological footprints. I can hear a cicada sing very close to me, and it makes me think about past existence and locations. Cicadas appeared 264 million years ago. Their song was appreciated by the Ancient Greeks. Well hidden and sheltered underground, cicada larvae can wait up to 17 years before emerging, depending on the location, but they die very quickly once out. It says a lot about their longevity and past civilizations. The cicada’s song is produced by a vibrating membrane; it can reach 100 decibels. I am fascinated by them.

Memories, like cicadas, are similar to fossils. They represent lived experiences, social and political situations, man-made objects, and most of all circumstances and chance turning points. Will you be able to recognize a few witnesses of life on Earth in this work?

Various sections of this work have symbolic pauses between them illustrated by the voice of actor Laurent Poitrenaux. They act as structural breaths throughout the work, but also as witnesses to a culture and a vision of our vitality. Traces — some disquieting, other reassuring or comforting — show that we are alive even when we are dead. These quotes are taken from plays that remain unknown, despite constant archeological research, and have become artifacts.

There are also excerpts from interviews by host Michel Dupuis at CIBL in 1985, by Hélène Prévost at Radio-Canada in 1986 with composers Claude Lassonde and Michel Ratté, among others, and by Michel Rochon recorded by La conserve média in 2021.

— Roxanne Turcotte [English translation: François Couture, iv-26]

Artéfacts [Artifacts] was realized in 2024 at the composer’s studio (Studio Séducson) in Montréal (Québec) and was premiered on November 21, 2024 at the concert Artéfacts II presented by Le Vivier in Salle bleue of Édifice Wilder — Espace danse in Montréal. This work was revised in 2025-26. Thanks to Laurent Poitrenaux (recorded narration), Mariane (recorded ehru), François Doyon, and Guillaume Barrette. Nods to Bobby McFerrin, Bach, Glenn Gould, Fannie, and my grandson Adrien Quilléré.

Premiere

• November 21, 2024, Artéfacts II, Salle bleue — Édifice Wilder — Espace danse, Montréal (Québec)