A long sustained note, very soft, a sound of strings voluntarily a little white. Then, the solo violin of Angèle Dubeau: a warm sound, mastered, moving, without overrated emotion.
Posted at 9:00 a.m.
This is Wiosnathe piece that opens the new disc of La Pietà, a portrait of the British composer Alex Baranowski, whose work in film and television has made a star of this music often called “modern classic” in English (modern classical music).
Very careful work on the timbre, moments reminiscent of English composers from the beginning of the 20th centurye century, but also Arvo Pärt, Philip Glass, Ludovico Einaudi (all already recorded by La Pietà). Floating atmospheres created by the strings, to which a delicate piano adds light more detached touches.
This musical style is like a beautiful decor: you feel good there, both sensitive and safe. I recognize it and give myself up to it willingly.
But after a few pieces, a part of me remains dissatisfied: this music has its limits, chosen. She hardly allows herself any development, any dramatic arc. Want a literary analogy? “A woman sits at the edge of a park, she admires the landscape, takes out a book and begins to read. ” End of the story.
At best, we will add that the woman “thinks of her sick grandfather” as a dramatic moment. My bad faith is phosphorescent, but I assume it.
The release of the disc Baranowski de La Pietà made me want to make a phone call to musicologist Danick Trottier, to better understand the phenomenon. He is the author of the essay The classic pops!, published in 2021.
Danick is leading a research project on what is called “crossover” in music, with pianist and research assistant Béatrice Beaudin-Caillé: “We have reviewed the history of the rise in strength of recent years. Since 2010, music has become more complex, and the phenomenon has uninhibited, both in production and reception. »
The result: an exponential progression of this scene which brings together the essential pianists Chilly Gonzales, Alexandra Stréliski (who highlighted on Facebook her 300 million online plays at the beginning of the month), Jean-Michel Blais, but also the Simon Leoza, Ghostly Kisses and many more. Music that fascinates the musicologist, as much by its refinement as by its success.
We are still trying to find a good name for this musical trend. In his essay, Danick Trottier adopted the term “modern classic”. He heard me on the radio express reservations about the label : “You’re not the only one, he says without resentment, I am aware that the label is not unanimous. I don’t know where we’re going: maybe it will be up to the musicians to decide! »
Somewhat provocatively, in the same column I had proposed Classic Digest, because the way this music recovers the codes of classical music while simplifying them reminds me of the reduced versions of well-known novels, sold under the famous banner Reader’s Digest.
By talking with Danick Trottier, we get caught up in the game again, looking for a better name for this increasingly important musical trend. We agree (provisionally!) on the word “immersion”, which is also the title of a recent disc by La Pietà. The immersive experience that this music provides is indeed perhaps more important than the sum of the notes on the score.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, PRESS ARCHIVES
Danick Trottier, musicologist
I ask Danick if we can present this musical experience, often calm and stripped down, as a refuge to help an anxious society. “I am willing to admit it, it is soothing, it provides accessible pleasure, it creates a cocoon, an intimacy, but the question of emotions is complex and requires experimental studies in a given situation, which some researchers do. For me, that’s not the big deal. The key to its success is above all the importance of the music-image link in our time. We continuously consume video, advertising, fiction, bathed in this atmospheric music. Accumulation has given it an independent life. It is charged with the images we have seen: the feeling is there, it becomes the soundtrack of our lives. Music being inherently polysemic, everyone is free to attach it to their life experiences: as background music at home, on the move, to accompany sport, or in more attentive listening. »
Will it create a leveling of listening, in classical music? Will we have difficulty returning to more demanding music? Danick Trottier remains cautious: “We know that it has a huge success in streaming, but it is impossible to determine if people limit themselves to it. We do not have listening profiles by listener. However, reading the comments on the platforms, I notice that many make links with other music, underline the influences they spot. We are in a time of eclecticism: many people are “omnivorous” in music. »
What is undeniable is the commercial potential of this immersive classical music. Danick Trottier attributes this success to the way it is composed.
“The melodic work, the repetition, the breath of the lines, the duration of the pieces — close to the song — everything tends to make music easily adaptable to the environment. From there emerged a certain stardom, and the demand for concerts followed, of course. I point out to Danick that the transposition in the hall of music that is initially intended to be intimate and soothing can seem like a paradox: “It’s more compatible than you think: we integrate visuals, a little electronic support , we add trunk by orchestrating. »
Listening to these immersive music numbers in the millions, they do us good: everything suggests that they are there for good.
“The woman, seated on her bench, remains pensive, but she abandons herself to the decor with pleasure. ” End of the story.
Classic
Portrait: Alex Baranowski
Angele Dubeau
Analekta