Janus Program (2022-2024)
"What would musical creation be without the centuries of music that came before it? Why preserve a repertoire, or even reinstate its performance practices, if they do not serve as inspiration to other cultures? What are our musical performance venues if they do not offer a share of the unexpected? Janus, the Roman God with two faces, who looks at the past and the future from the threshold of the house, lends his name to this joint—and unusual—program by IRCAM and the CMBV. The project invites four young European composers to draw inspiration from French Baroque music to compose new works. A long and beautiful adventure between patrimony and creation that started last spring and which will continue until 2024.” Nicolas Bucher, director of the CMBV and Frank Madlener, director of IRCAM
Janus: a meeting in the Present!
The Janus program—a new, innovative partnership between the CMBV and IRCAM—combines the French baroque repertoire and new works of four young European composers.
Janus is the Roman God of beginnings and ends, of choices, of passages, and doors. He is a two-faced God; one face turned towards the past and the other towards the future. In the image of this divinity, the CMBV, a historical cultural institution, has joined forces with IRCAM, an international music research center connected with the Centre Pompidou, to create a new form of music. With the support of the Ministry of Culture, the two structures are commissioning four new works from four young European composers selected by the two organizations.
These commissions are intended to complement one or more French works from the 17th and 18th centuries. They are intended for the CMBV choir school in a variety of form (full choir, children's voices, adult choir, soloists' ensemble), a capella, or with an instrumental ensemble with electronics.
La Maîtrise du Centre de musique baroque de Versailles © Morgane Vie
Two new works, one by the Spanish composer Ariadna Alsina Tarrés and another by the French composer Adrien Trybucki will see the light of day in June 2023 during IRCAM's ManiFeste festival. In 2024, we will discover the works by the Lithuanian composer Justina Repečkaitė and the Serbian composer Jug Marković. The four young artists all master electronics, having recently completed IRCAM's Cursus of Composition and computer music course.
In addition to these new works, French baroque pieces from the 17th and 18th centuries will be also be featured, comparing and contrasting history and creation, past and future.
Concert program
As part of the ManiFeste-2023 festival
Thursday, June 22, 2023 8pm | IRCAM, Espace de projection
Fabien Armengaud et Clément Buonomo musical direction
Les Pages et les Chantres du Centre de musique baroque de Versailles
Quentin Nivromont, Johann Philippe IRCAM electronics
Premiere of new works by Adrien Trybucki and Ariadna Alsina Tarrés
Commissionned by IRCAM-Centre Pompidou and the CMBV
En regard des œuvres du répertoire baroque ayant inspiré les deux créations
Season 2023-2024
April 2024 | IRCAM, Espace de projection
Fabien Armengaud musical direction
Les Pages et les Chantres du Centre de musique baroque de Versailles
Quentin Nivromont, Johann Philippe IRCAM electronics
Premiere of new works by Jug Marković ou Justina Repečkaitė
Commissionned by IRCAM-Centre Pompidou and the CMBV
En regard des oeuvres du répertoire baroque ayant inspiré les deux créations
As part of the ManiFeste-2024 festival - Soirée de clôture du programme Janus
June 2024 | The Royal Chapel of the Palace of Versailles
Fabien Armengaud musical direction
Les Pages et les Chantres du Centre de musique baroque de Versailles
Quentin Nivromont, Johann Philippe IRCAM electronics
Interprétation de l’ensemble des quatre nouvelles œuvres du projet Janus : de Adrien Trybucki, Ariadna Alsina Tarrés, Jug Marković et Justina Repečkaitė
The Concert Venues: Two exceptional concert halls, each with its own specificity
IRCAM's Espace de projection
A place of acoustic experimentation and musical exploration, the Espace de projection is located in the heart of IRCAM. The room is the building's main attraction, totally isolated in an architectural system of nested boxes, 16 meters below Paris' place Igor Stravinsky. Designed by architects Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers with the acoustician Victor Peutz and inaugurated in 1978, it is known for its modularity and its variable acoustics: its volumetry (the ceilings can be lowered in 3 distinct panels) as well as the materials (diffusing / absorbing / reflecting) can change on demand.
The Espace de projection is equipped with a 339-speaker multi-channel sound spatialization system, combining two state-of-the-art systems for sound field reproduction, WFS (sound hologram synthesis) and Ambisonics (3D sound). Any and all scenographic configurations are also possible, the stage/room ratio is infinitely adjustable.
The Royal Chapel of the Palace of Versailles
The Royal Chapel of Versailles, built by Jules Hardouin-Mansart and Robert de Cotte in 1710, is the last large-scale construction project carried out under the reign of Louis XIV. Along with the Hall of Mirrors, it is the most prestigious and daring addition to the Sun King's castle. The building demonstrates a perfect symbiosis of architecture and decoration crafted by the greatest artists of the time.
In keeping with the tradition of palace chapels, the building has two floors. The king and the royal family attended mass daily from the main gallery. The remaining members of court remained on the first floor, to which the king only came down for the religious festivals. During mass, music was omnipresent; above the altar, surrounding Robert Clicquot's organ, whose keyboards have been played by masters such as François Couperin, the music of the Chapel, famed throughout throughout Europe, sang motets daily throughout the services.
Photo : Chapelle royale du château de Versailles © Château de Versailles, photo : T. Garnier
A virtual acoustic reconstruction of the Royal Chapel
The concerts in IRCAM's Espace de projection will be performed using the reconstructed acoustics of the Château de Versailles' Chapelle Royale, thanks to an acoustic imaging system developed by IRCAM researchers.
In Addition to the Concerts
For the general public: documentary resources
To be released in 2024-2025
- Publication of a collection of Janus CDs: publication of the recordings of the new works
- Diffusion of a video documentary in the wings of the project, up close to the young artists
A cultural outreach program
"Baroque City" in Maurepas
The CMBV and IRCAM teams offer an introduction to the processes of creation and and computer music to the beneficiaries of the "Ville baroque" cultural outreach project in the Yvelines. Middle school students, social and cultural centers, and local residents will benefit from workshops throughout the program.
For the Artists: Educational Support
The commissions given to young composers for the CMBV choir have been designed with two types of educational activities in mind and intrinsically linked, intended for all the participants of the Janus program:
- A masterclass, intended for the four composers, the CMBV Pages and the Chantres in June 2022, during the ManiFeste festival academy.
IRCAM's computer music designers presented the vocal technologies developed at IRCAM and let the young singers experiment with them. The Chanters and the Pages performed sketches written by the 4 composers. This masterclass was open to all the of ManiFeste-2022 festival academy participants. - A series of "composer/performer" workshops, in 2022 and 2023
These workshops facilitate a common and experimental approach shared by the selected artists, choir leaders, singers, children, and musicians playing on historical instruments. The objective of these workshops is to accompany the composers' creative work as well as that of the young singers: discovery of the musical universe of each composer, rehearsals, sketches, learning to sing with electronics, contemporary vocal techniques, discovery of the techniques of baroque music for the composers ...
Biographies des compositeurs, compositrices et interprètes
Jug Marković
Justina Repečkaitė
Ariadna Alsina Tarrés
Adrien Trybucki
Fabien Armengaud
Clément Buonomo
