Nicolas Hodges - Brice Pauset: Canons (2017)

The canon is one of the rare musical forms that actually has the same name as the technique involved in writing it. In that respect, a canon implies concentration on rigorously musical questions; in reality, if one wished to broach the concept (which in fact strikes me as rather suspicious and fantasy-like) of pure music, it would almost certainly be necessary to tackle this form.

Canonic technique obligates the composer to position himself on the issue of polarization between nature and culture: either the canon displays itself, becomes prettified, and plainly reveals its organization, or it asks questions about the music itself, acting in a more subterranean and much more radical way. Of course it is the second position that interests me, and which I used as a guiding thread not only in the four cycles of canons for piano solo and Perspectivæ Sintagma I, but also in other cycles for chamber ensemble, chamber orchestra, and in Perspectivæ Sintagma II.

Tracklist
Disc 1 (01:06:21)
1. Trois canons: I. (01:45)
2. Trois canons: II. (01:17)
3. Trois canons: III. (03:52)
4. Cinq canons: I. (03:46)
5. Cinq canons: II. (08:46)
6. Cinq canons: III. (04:33)
7. Cinq canons: IV. (05:05)
8. Cinq canons: V. (05:23)
9. Sept canons: I. (01:35)
10. Sept canons: II. (00:44)
11. Sept canons: III. (04:17)
12. Sept canons: IV. (03:28)
13. Sept canons: V. (05:37)
14. Sept canons: VI. (01:26)
15. Sept canons: VII. (03:07)
16. Neuf canons: I. (01:20)
17. Neuf canons: II. (01:11)
18. Neuf canons: III. (01:20)
19. Neuf canons: IV. (01:27)
20. Neuf canons: V. (01:07)
21. Neuf canons: VI. (01:22)
22. Neuf canons: VII. (01:15)
23. Neuf canons: VIII. (01:19)
24. Neuf canons: IX. (01:19)

Disc 2 (23:06)
1. Perspectivæ Sintagma: I. (23:06)