Bernard de Vienne

Les Échos du silence

One should consider this work as an opera scene in which the protagonist talks with his own reflection in the mirror. It may be his own first name that he is chanting throughout the piece because his double challenges him. If not, I would suggest Ludka for a female, Ludwig for a male.

This short and very intimate piece plays on the different levels of a reading of Sylvie Germain's text and can be seen according to the four writing senses: literal, allegorical, moral and anagogical. The last is particularly underlined by the music.

The voice's many expressive resources are required here: melodic, spoken/sung, spoken (recited, chanted…), white voice, whisper…

The piece may be sung by a mezzo soprano with a transposition down. The crotals should therefore be transposed accordingly.