Frédéric Chiasson

composer

Crowdfunding Campaign

We prepare a crowdfunding campaign to complete the Poèmes de Nelligan cycle. Help us make it a success !

You want to participate? Send me an email pour inform me of your interest. We will write you when the campaign officially starts.

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Gone for the Ottawa Marathon

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May 24th, 2013

I never wrote about it on this site, but beside being a composer, an arranger, a copyist... I am also a long-distance runner! This Sunday, I will run the Ottawa Marathon. It will be my third marathon.

This year, you can follow the marathon live on the Ottawa Marathon website. Wake up early, it starts at 7:00am. If I am not mistaken, you can also follow my split times live on SportStats.

Afterward, I will return to my other marathon – this time for composition – to finish Urbania.

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Urbania : Petite pousse, rebel lullaby

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May 16th, 2013

I just finished the 3rd movement of Urbania. Its name is Petite pousse (“Small sprout”) and it starts with a lullaby.

Then I just noticed that I have composed something that is literally against all non-written rules of conventional contemporary music: a perfectly regular and perfectly tonal lullaby in 32 3/4 bars. Something which would be, according to the principles of Montreal new music society, is completely ”reactionary”, “uncreative”, “antimodern”, “not my language” and so on. I almost fear to have banned myself of Arts Councils grants and contemporary music organizations forever!

But still, I have not done it to create riots in these organizations' boards of directors. I started Petite pousse with a lullaby to answer a personal request of Pascale Beaudin, the excellent soprano premiering the work.

I could try to make a “contemporary” lullaby. I could write some sprechgesang (“speak-sing”), I would add an atonal counterpoint on flute and other instruments. All of them would play softly: it is a lullaby after all... Well, the result is exactly a Schönberg's Pierrot Lunaire movement, composed more than 100 years ago. Not exactly “contemporary”! Moreover, if you have a baby, will you really put him to sleep with Pierrot Lunaire?

Someone on YouTube think this could be possible!

A movement of Pierre lunaire with the Teletubbies. Not really a reassuring mix...

Here are the comments.

«Je l'ai vu une couple de fois déjà et ça m'horrifie de plus en plus à chaque fois. C'est le genre de truc que je ne peux pas ne pas partager.»

Well! To frighten is not what I desire. I think I will stay with my 32 bar tonal lullaby...

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In a rush!

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April 22nd, 2013

Let's be honest: I am in a rush! While I was thinking launching officially the crowdsourcing campaign for the Poèmes de Nelligan, I find that I have no more spare time left.

Actually, in about one month of precampaign, we are approaching a donation amount of 1000$ already. This is promising!

But at the same time, I must finish Urbania, the work for Pascale Beaudin and the Orchestre de la Francophonie conducted by Jean-Philippe Tremblay for June 1st.

Through this, I have completed:

  • - a musicological analysis of orchestration of Prélude à l'Après-midi d'un Faune by Debussy;
  • - a scientific article on my music psychology experiments on volume (largeness) of instrument timbres of the orchestra.

Let's say it does take a lot more time.

Now, I have to:

  • - finish to copy a whole unedited opera by Chausson for the Observatoire interdisciplinaire de création et recherche en musique (OICRM)
  • - continue my work of transcription for the Cirque du Soleil.

You may imagine that I do not have much free time!

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