This weekend, as part of La Semaine du Neuf, organized by Le Vivier, Les Percussions de Strasbourg will present three times Ghostlandby Pierre Jodlowski. The duty spoke with artistic director Minh-Tâm Nguyen about the history of this legendary group which, single-handedly, generated a discipline in its own right within contemporary music.
Jean Batigne. The name of the founder of the Percussions de Strasbourg is legendary, as is that of Louis Charbonneau, legendary timpanist of the OSM. Planetarily, the names of two giants shine in the firmament: Vic Firth, the timpanist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1956 to 2002, and Peter Sondermann, that of the Dresden Staatskapelle from 1945 to 1985.
The Percussions de Strasbourg were born from an encounter. “There were two orchestras in Strasbourg: that of the Radio and the Philharmonic Orchestra, each with three percussionists,” says Minh-Tâm Nguyen. When [Pierre] Boulez came in 1959 to direct The wedding face, he needed six percussionists and grouped those from the two orchestras. They said to themselves: “Why not continue?” and formed an ensemble, the Instrumental Percussion Group, which later became Les Percussions de Strasbourg. » The three best-known founders, Jean Batigne, Jean-Paul Finkbeiner and Georges Van Gucht, were also the percussionists of the Philharmonic.
Catalyst
The exceptional thing is that, very quickly, the training inspired the composers to write a new repertoire. And not just any: Iannis Xenakis with Pleiades And Persephassa, Karlheinz Stockhausen with Music in Bauch and Miloslav Kabeláč with Eight inventions. “Boulez said: ‘The repertoire was necessary for the group, but the group made the repertoire necessary,’” recalls Minh-Tâm Nguyen. The meeting of the six musicians also imposed a concept: “This formation of six remained like this, no more, no less. This created a format, the percussion sextet, in the same way as the string quartet. »
Thus, for 50 years, the ensemble only placed orders for six. 400 works were composed for Les Percussions de Strasbourg. “The format became so established that with the agreement of Edgar Varèse, after the intervention of Boulez, Les Percussions de Strasbourg rewrote and performed Ionization for six, while the work, created in 1933, is played for thirteen. Conversely, for Maurice Ohana, the Choreographic studies (1955), for four instrumentalists, were rewritten by the composer in 1963 for six. The Percussions de Strasbourg have established a world standard. »
In the eyes of Minh-Tâm Nguyen, what historically distinguishes the group is its work on material. “The ensemble Les Percussions de Strasbourg is recognized for a sound, a type of music which is more about texture than rhythm. It’s not that good at rhythm, unlike American ensembles like Third Coast Percussion or So Percussions. » But percussion, today, revolves a lot around rhythm, notes the artistic director.
There have therefore been exciting explorations, pioneering work, but also limits. “We always talked about a Percussions de Strasbourg sound at the time, which was very representative of the group. But there were things the band didn’t know how to do well. For example, repetitive music or other contemporary forms that today, with new musicians, we can approach in a qualitative way. »
Variable geometry
Because today we are far from the model of orchestral percussionists forming an ensemble. “Having members of the Strasbourg Philharmonic within the Percussions de Strasbourg would no longer be possible. This goes with the development of percussion. In the past, percussionists played in an orchestra and could develop solo or ensemble desires. Today, the two forms coexist and, above all, the level has increased significantly. Someone who really wants to do ensemble or solo has to devote a lot more time to this practice. Our latest creation was five weeks of work, three of which were in the final stretch. An orchestral musician cannot unlock that,” explains the artistic director.
The configuration of the Percussions de Strasbourg has now changed. “Many ensembles play the Percussions de Strasbourg repertoire, but also other repertoires. The Percussions de Strasbourg remained at six, going through four generations with crises and distribution problems. The ministry suggested that we change, and that’s what we did with my arrival about 10 years ago, by creating formulas for duets, trios, quartets, and up to ten. Today, we feed the 400 works with creations, but I cannot manage to play the entire repertoire in a qualitative manner with six musicians. I need the musicians to be fresh, I need influences from elsewhere. I have a pool of 18 musicians of very diverse nationalities: a South American, two Koreans, a Taiwanese, etc. »
Over time, by remaining stuck to the “trademark” which had made the initial success of the group, the second and third generations of musicians, all more or less students of the pioneers and reluctant to break the mold, missed the changes time. The primacy of rhythm, certainly, but also the symbiosis with electronics: “When I arrived in 2012, the most sophisticated technological tools we had were an expander from a technology from the 1980s or 1990s and a midi keyboard from three octaves. The group worked very little with electronic music, with IRCAM [Institut de recherche et coordination acoustique/musique]. When computers arrived, he didn’t get the hang of it at all. »
New audience
“What I wanted to bring is the stage work, the body, the posture, the presence on stage, in connection with all the other arts,” says Minh-Tâm Nguyen. Having done dance, I cultivate projects that involve the body and dance. In Ghostland, bodily involvement is very important. In fact, you have everything: electronics, video, performance, dance. This corresponds to a writing from a few years ago. We’ve been talking about multidisciplinarity for quite a long time, so we’re integrating it, but for me, we’re already late. We have to take a step forward. Someone who plays music, who knows a little dancing and theater, today, that starts with training. We find ourselves with very complete artists and we are quickly overwhelmed in the multidisciplinary field! »
Minh-Tâm Nguyen, who quotes Pleiades And Persephassa by Iannis Xenakis, Hierophony V by Yoshihisa Taïra, The black of the star by Gérard Grisey, Erewhon And Burning Bright by Hugues Dufourt in his selection of masterpieces of the genre, will use his open-mindedness for his greatest challenge. “When Xenakis or Boulez said that the public didn’t care, it was another era. Today, we cannot do that, when a lot of money fuels these projects. We are asked to renew our audience. How ? One of my answers is to create multiple programs. I am lucky to have a group called Les Percussions de Strasbourg and not La Musique contemporain de Strasbourg. This allows, for example, to make techno with percussion. Making techno allows me to reach other audiences who will understand that we make techno with a very contemporary classical influence. Making contemporary art is making art for today. »
In this, Minh-Tâm Nguyen wants to bring together the popular “current” and the so-called scholarly “contemporary”. “It’s the same word. It’s my way of being contemporary. This openness requires public understanding. I rely on the team, current and young. All musicians have classical training and culture. But they also listen to rock, rap, jazz. I want to create something with this. I would like to only create composers of the Xenakis caliber. But if it’s not to make myself heard and to write off an entire repertoire because no one will want to listen to it anymore, it’s pointless. So, I create multidisciplinary works, I work with jazz hip-hop artists, while thinking that the baggage we carry is of quality. And I remember the word “percussion”. »