Noriko Baba, Maurice Ravel
, and other animals
The Cairn Ensemble presents this portrait of Japanese composer Noriko Baba, punctuated—like a gentle glow from the past—by the music of Maurice Ravel and a few highly sophisticated animal sounds. The subtlety of French music and the evocations of the animals from our childhood are perhaps the two cornerstones of Noriko Baba’s music, so refined and delicate. During this hour-long concert, we will hear several animal-inspired motifs that the Musical Bestiary cycle, currently in progress, seeks to explore: from the chirping of birds emerging from a music box to the “Sad Birds” that Ravel hears in the piano; from the ants (Formica from the Bestiaire musical) to the Cricket (a melody from Ravel’s natural history stories), we will also find, amidst the tumult of the waves, the song of whales and the cries of seagulls.
Musically speaking, it is the delicacy of the sound, its fragility, and the balance of its timbres that Noriko Baba’s music explores in a style reminiscent of Ravel.
“The Aspisis a small snake that protects itself from the enchanting music of snake charmers by pressing one ear to the ground and covering the other with its tail.The Bernacleis a kind of small goose that comes from trees growing above the water. The young birds hang from tree branches by their beaks. As they grow, they detach themselves from the tree. Those that fall into the water float and remain alive; the others die… The last two,Cuculus(the cuckoo) andDraco(the dragon), are more familiar to us, even though they blur and maintain the ambiguity between the factual and the imaginary, reality and dreams—that in-between space into which Noriko Baba’s subtle world slips.”
Michèle Tosi, Musica Festival Magazine, September 2022
Cast
Flute: Cédric Jullion
Clarinet: Ayumi Mori
Guitar: Christelle Séry
Piano: Caroline Cren
Percussion: Sylvain Lemêtre
Violin: Constance Ronzatti
Viola: Cécile Brossard
Cello: Alexa Ciciretti
Management Guillaume Bourgogne
Dates
January 29, 2025, Cité Musicale-Metz
, Arsenal, Salle de l'Esplanade
's Program: Noriko Baba :: Au clair des oiseaux
, for music box
Noriko Baba :: Formica
for violin and piano ( from the *Bestiaire Musicale* cycle)
Maurice Ravel :: *Oiseaux tristes*
for piano
Maurice Ravel :: Oiseaux tristes
, transcribed for flute, clarinet, guitar, percussion, violin, viola, and cello
Noriko Baba :: Bonbori
for flute, clarinet, guitar, viola, and cello
Noriko Baba :: Non-canonical variations
for flute, clarinet, viola, and cello
Maurice Ravel :: Valses nobles et sentimentales
, for piano (Waltzes 1, 3, 4, and 6)
Maurice Ravel :: Valses nobles et sentimentales
(arranged for flute, clarinet, guitar, violin, viola, and cello)
Jérôme Combier (Waltz No. 2)
Vincent Bouchot (Waltz No. 5)
Alexandre Jamar (Waltzes Nos. 7 and 8)
Noriko Baba :: Shiosai, Roar of the Waves
for piano, violin, and cello
Maurice Ravel :: Le Grillon (Histoire naturelle)
Transcribed version for flute, clarinet, piano, guitar, percussion, violin, viola, cello
Noriko Baba :: Bestarium musicale
for flute, clarinet, piano, guitar, percussion, violin, viola, cello