À ses derniers pas, entrant dans la boue Théotime Langlois de Swarte & Les Ombres

• Aleks Schürmer: Générique:
• 1Schürmer: Générique03:43
• Concertino in B-Flat Major:
• 2Schürmer: Concertino in B-Flat Major: I. Ils se sont trouvés sur Tinder04:27
• 3Schürmer: Concertino in B-Flat Major: II. "After-Hours" et l'entrée (enfin) au Parnasse04:07
• 4 Cowboy Songs:
• 4Schürmer: 4 Cowboy Songs: No. 1, Serpentine04:13
• 5Schürmer: 4 Cowboy Songs: No. 2, It's a Hard Road to Travel04:30
• 6Schürmer: 4 Cowboy Songs: No. 3, Who Could Ask for Anything More?05:04
• 7Schürmer: 4 Cowboy Songs: No. 4, Vertex04:15
• À ses derniers pas, entrant dans la boue:
• 8Schürmer: À ses derniers pas, entrant dans la boue: I. Élégie pour les vivants01:57
• 9Schürmer: À ses derniers pas, entrant dans la boue: II. Dansons quand même !02:15
• 10Schürmer: À ses derniers pas, entrant dans la boue: III. Cortège qui annonce la fin du temps02:04
• 11Schürmer: À ses derniers pas, entrant dans la boue: IV. Sarabande pour la paix02:15
• 12Schürmer: À ses derniers pas, entrant dans la boue: V. Vocalise pour ceux qui hurlent dans le vide02:16
• 13Schürmer: À ses derniers pas, entrant dans la boue: VI. Passacaille pour les angoissés02:31
• Paris en feu, un jour, si tu le veux:
• 14Schürmer: Paris en feu, un jour, si tu le veux05:49
• Total Runtime49:26

Info for À ses derniers pas, entrant dans la boue

Even among innovative geniuses, Russian physicist Leon Theremin (Lev Sergeyevich Termen) is a giant. His work in electromagnetic fields and radio frequency lead him to invent his namesake instrument, the theremin, in 1920 and thereby usher a new era in electronic musical instruments. A century later, this album presents new works for theremin and piano by Canadian composer Aleks Schürmer. These works contain elements of 18th and 19th century forms and performance practices, popular music tropes and post-20th century tonalism, and while they are often harmonically challenging, the music can still feel comfortable and familiar to the uninitiated listener. Many of the album’s works reflect on the optimism of the early 20th century’s imagined utopic future and where we’ve ended up a hundred years later. From the rise of nationalism, fascism, isolationism, anti-socialism and even a global pandemic, the shared traits of both the early 20th and 21st century are explored in the album’s main work, “À ses derniers pas, entrant dans la boue (Quelques petites pensées sur nos jours)”.

Aleks Schürmer is a Canadian composer, multi-instrumentalist, educator, and artist who merges disparate genres, historical periods and cultural interests in his work, exploring the underlying sameness of all things. An Associate Composer of the Canadian Music Centre (CMC), Aleks holds a Masters degree in Historical Performance from the Schulich School of Music at McGill and studied modern flute with Patrick Gallois. His compositions have been called “major discoveries” (Stephen Ritter, American Record Guide) and he has been called “particularly brilliant” (Claude Gingras, La Presse), a “superbe pianist” (Tamara Bernstein, National Post) and a “young visionary” (Marilis Cardinal, Nightlife Magazine).

Grégoire Blanc is an emerging French musician among the few virtuosos of the theremin today. Following engineering studies at the École Nationale Supérieure d’Arts et Métiers, Grégoire completed his Masters degree in Sciences and Technologie for Music at the Institut de Recherchre et de Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM) and his ongoing artistic research centres around expressiveness in electronic music, with classical music as a starting point. He is a frequent collaborator of contemporary theatre and dance artists both as a multi-instrumentalist and a sound designer. This album is Grégoire’s first solo recital album, celebrating the release of a newly designed instrument from Moog, as well as the 100-year anniversary of the invention of the theremin.

Grégoire Blanc, theremin
Aleks Schürmer, piano

Theotime Langlois de Swarte
Passion and eclecticism define Théotime Langlois de Swarte’s choice of repertoire, which ranges from the 17th century to contemporary creation.

He is the first baroque violinist to be nominated at the Victoires de la Musique Classique 2020 in the category « Revelation soliste instrumental ». He is well recognised with multiple baroque ensembles, particularly in France, such as Les Ombres, with which he has just recorded a CD with concertos by Vivaldi, Leclair and Locatelli, and Les Arts Florissants, with William Christie, with whom he will tour and record Haydn concertos in March 2022.

Very attached to the French repertoire of the 19th and 20th centuries, he founded the Eluard Trio with Fiona Mato and Hanna Salzenstein, which aims to recreate the world of the Parisian salons of the early 20th century.

His concerts have taken him all over the world to prestigious venues such as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Musikverein in Vienna, the Shanghai National Art Center, the Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles and, more recently, to the Philharmonie de Paris where he gave a recital on the « Davidoff » Stradivarius violin, which is kept in the Musée de la Musique.

His performances are regularly recorded by Culturebox (Leclair’s Concerti at the Sablé sur Sarthe Festival, Sept Particules at the Deauville Festival, Baroque Affects with Eva Zaicik at the Salle Cortot, Vivaldi Concertos with the Jupiter Ensemble). 2020 marked the beginning of his collaboration as a soloist with the harmonia mundi label, where he recorded his first CD ‘The Mad Lover’ devoted to English music with lutenist Thomas Dunford, to great critical acclaim. Later this year, the label then released a second disc, ‘Proust, the regained concert’, with pianist Tanguy de Williencourt, the title evoking a concert that the French writer had organized in Paris, which Théotime recorded on the « Davidoff » Stradivarius from the Musée de la Musique in Paris. A third CD, featuring the duo he formed with William Christie with a French programme of sonatas by Leclair and Sénaillé, was released in July.

After studying at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP) in the class of Michaël Hentz, Théotime founded the ensemble Le Consort with the harpsichordist Justin Taylor. The ensemble was soon recognised as one of the most important of their generation, collaborating with opera artists such as Eva Zaïcik, Véronique Gens and Mathias Vidal. Their recordings for Alpha Classics/Outhere have been rewarded by the press: Choc Classica (Venez,chère Ombre) and Diapason d’Or of the year 2019 (Opus 1), as well as Royal Handel and, more recently, Specchio Veneziano with works by Italian composers, Reali and Vivaldi.

Théotime Langlois de Swarte is a laureate of the Banque Populaire Foundation and the Jumpstart Foundation. He plays on a Jacob Stainer violin of 1665.

“Théotime Langlois de Swarte. Have you ever read such a fabulous name? and with fabulous playing to match, it’s a name to remember.” Gramophone

“France’s rising generation has some promising names. Topping that list for me is Le Consort founding violinist Théotime Langlois de Swarte, whose recent The Mad Lover debut solo album for Harmonia Mundi was a stunner by any standard.” The Strad

This album contains no booklet.