Images of a Work Collection

A collection includes 30 films

Since 2007, IRCAM’s Department of Education and Cultural Outreach has presented one or two films a year on a work in production with electronics produced in the institute’s studios. The series is produced in collaboration with the Centre Pompidou. The films are screened before the work’s premiere and are accompanied by a meeting with the composer and film crew.

Examining the different steps in creating a piece, watching a composer at work, understanding the sources and issues surrounding recent creations produced at IRCAM: these are the subjects of the “Images of a Work” series. It decodes the creative process of a musical work and lets us in to the inner workings of IRCAM. It shows the involvement of different actors (composer, musicians, computer music designers, scientists, ect.) in the elaboration of a musical project and their various work situations (personal studio, research period, tests, recordings, rehearsals with musicians and other artists, etc.)

This collection sheds light on the aesthetic, technological, and scientific aspects of a work in progress. The films are part of a global educational effort that accompanies the audience, the listener, in their understanding of a musical work and how the technology and research developed at IRCAM serve an artistic project.

Photo: Shooting of  Images of a Work #30: 3 femmes disparaissent  by Hélène Frappat, in the IRCAM studios © IRCAM-Centre Pompidou, photo: Murielle Ducas.

>#1: Stèles d'air by Jérôme Combier
Director: Jérôme Combier and Pierre Nouvel (2007)

>#16: Germination by Jean-Luc Hervé
Director: Philippe Langlois and Christian Bahier (2013)

>#2: Le Grand Dehors by Pierre Jodlowski
Director: Maÿlis Dupont and Lionel Escama (2007)

>#17: Te craindre en ton absence by Hèctor Parra
Director: Antoine Pecqueur and Christian Bahier (2014)

>#3: Océan by Philipp Maintz
Director: Nicolas Donin and Lionel Escama (2008)

>#18: Quid sit musicus ? by Philippe Leroux
Director: Thierry Paul Benizeau (2014)

>#4: Dans le mur by Georges Aperghis
Director: Nicolas Donin and Benoît Martin (2008)

>#19: Tour à Tour by Philippe Hurel
Director: Thierry Paul Benizeau (2015)

>#5: Deux caprices pour percussion by Luis Naón
Director: Maÿlis Dupont and Jérôme Polidor (2008)

>#20: Notturno sulle corde vuote by Francesco Filidei
Director: Véronique Caye and Philippe Langlois (2016)

>#6: Les temps tiraillés by Myriam Gourfink and Georg Friedrich Haas
Director: Martin Kaltenecker and Christian Bahier (2009)

>#21: SIMPLEXITY la beauté du geste by Thierry De Mey
Director: Philippe Langlois, in collaboration with Yves Pezet, Aliocha and Boris Van der Avoort (2016)

>#7: L'électronique de chambre by Marco Stroppa
Director: Nicolas Donin and Benoît Martin (2009)

>#22: Infinite Now by Chaya Czernowin
Director: Marie Losier (2017)

>#8: Le père by Michael Jarrell
Director: Laurent Feneyrou and Benoît Martin (2010)

>#23: La Princesse légère by Violeta Cruz
Director: Natacha Nisic and Anne Montaron (2018)

>#9: Un Mage en été by Olivier Cadiot & Ludovic Lagarde
Director: Marion Stouffet and Benoît Martin (2010)

>#24: Epigram by Franck Bedrossian
Director: Véronique Caye and Philippe Langlois (2018)

>#10: Tensio by Philippe Manoury
Director: Martin Kaltenecker and Christian Bahier (2010)

>#25 : Eror (The Pianist) by Georgia Spiropoulos
Director: Sabine Massenet, in collaboration with François-Xavier Féron (2019)

>#11: Quartett by Luca Francesconi
Director: Nicolas Donin and Benoît Martin (2011)

> #26 : De Tinieblas by Stefano Gervasoni
Director: Véronique Caye and Philippe Langlois

>#12: La pierre et l'étang (...les temps...) by Ivan Fedele
Director: Jérémie Szpirglas and Christian Bahier (2011)

>#27 : Canzoniere, I et II by Marta Gentilucci
Director: Isabelle Ingold and Vivianne Perelmuter, in collaboration with Michèle Tosi (2021)

>#13: Luna Park de Georges Aperghis
Director: Nicolas Donin and Benoît Martin (2011)

> #28 : Like flesh by Sivan Eldar
Director: Christian Barani, in collaboration with Philippe Langlois.

>#14: Inferno by Yann Robin
Director: Pierre Rigaudière and Christian Bahier (2012)

>#29 : Ex Machina by Steve Lehman & Frédéric Maurin
Director: Catherine Radosa, in collaboration with Philippe Langlois.

>#15: Assemblage by Roque Rivas
Director: Nicolas Donin and Benoît Martin (2012)

>#30 : Trois femmes disparaissent, "Musique-fiction" by Hélène Frappat, Para One and Nathalie Pivain
Director : Sabine Massenet, in collaboration with Philippe Langlois (2024)

 >Special production: documentary on the Janus project, featuring 4 creations by Jug Marković, Justina Repečkaité, Ariadna Alsina Tarrés, and Adrien Trybucki for electronics and the Maîtrise du Centre de musique baroque de Versailles
Production (in progress): Melocoton Films, Laure Bourru

The entire collection on the Ressources website

Lastest trailers of "Images of Work"

  • Trailer - Images of Work #29: "Ex Machina" by Steve Lehman and Frédéric Maurin
  • Trailer - Images of Work #28: "Like flesh" by Sivan Eldar
  • Trailer - Images of Work #27: "Canzoniere" by Marta Gentilucci
  • Trailer - Images of Work #26: "De Tinieblas" by Stefano Gervasoni
  • Trailer - Images of a Work #25 : "EROR (The pianist)" by Georgia Spiropoulos