Caroline Charrière

Quatuor Ophelia

The idea came to me suddenly: It would be Undine or Ophelia, in any case with a connection to water. When I reread the two stories, I decided on Shakespeare's heroine Ophelia, a touching portrayal of innocence, wounded by Hamlet and finding redemption in death. I wanted to portray this pure soul, the inner turmoil, the salvific death and the great peace, like a bird's song. Thus the titles of the three movements were also given: Innocence - Wound - Death and Peace.

The wonderful poems from Le Livre d'Ophélie by the Vaudois poet Anne Perrier accompanied me in my work and confirmed my premonitions about this story.

I placed her last poem above the third sentence:

Épitaphe

Jardins de la douleur

Saignez loin de ma tombe

Ici tout n'est qu'ombre et splendeur

Et gorge de colombe

Elle dort Ophélie

Au fond des marbres verts

De l'or plein les pupilles

Et dans son cœur la mer

(Anne Perrier)



Caroline Charrière, Fribourg (Switzerland), December 2007





The string quartet Ophelia was commissioned by the Amar Quartet and was performed on March 15, 2006 at the Villa Boveri. March 2006 at the Villa Boveri in Baden (Switzerland).