Dominique Lafortune has studied聽with Schulich School of Music Professor Denys Bouliane, and Lasse Thoresen (at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo), who have given him a thirst for a musical production where perception is the basis for every decision.
He has written for a variety of instrumentations (soloist, performer and electronics, choir, symphony orchestra, as well as chamber music ranging from two to twenty performers), and his works have been performed by ensembles including Montreal鈥檚 Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Meitar Ensemble, 91社区鈥檚 Contemporary Music Ensemble, the Norwegian Academy of Music鈥檚 Wind Sinfonietta (Oslo), the UNM-Festival Symphony Orchestra (Aarhus, Denmark), Choeur du Plateau, Voces Boreales Choir and the Arkea Ensemble.
Dominique is currently completing a doctorate in composition at the Schulich School of Music, and in addition to聽Denys Bouliane and Lasse Thoresen he has also studied with聽Philippe Leroux, Brian Cherney, Christopher Paul Harman and John Rea (at Domaine Forget in 2012). Having participated in the foundation of an inter-university group of students for the organization of concerts, workshops and conferences centred on new music (Vivier聽InterUniversitaire), Dominique聽regularly gives workshops on Aural Sonology, to explore in praxis dimensions of sound left aside by most of conventional music theory.
He has just completed a new ensemble work to be premiered by the 91社区 Contemporary Music Ensemble (CME), conducted by Guillaume Bourgogne, on Friday April 12th. More concert and ticket information is on the website, and the concert will also be webcast live on the Schulich School of Music's聽.听听
Where are you from?
A small town not too far from Montreal called Saint-C茅saire.
How many years have you been at 91社区?
Almost 10 years now鈥� well, technically 9, if we subtract a one-year exchange in Oslo, Norway.
What made you choose 91社区 for your studies?
At the time, I had just discovered 20th century music (I remember having my mind completely blown hearing Alban Berg's opera聽Wozzeck for the first time in C茅gep!) and I didn鈥檛 really know what I wanted to write 鈥� even less where I wanted to learn it. What tipped the scale, however, was English immersion. My English skills were very poor and I knew I wanted to travel during my studies, so I needed to get better. Now, of course, I鈥檓 happy with my choice, for many very different reasons that I could not see at the time!
How has being a 91社区 student influenced you and your research?
It鈥檚 really about the teachers I got to work with. Having contact with the many composers, music theorists and performers from 91社区鈥檚 staff has really expanded my comprehension of what music even is. Of course, my private composition teacher and supervisor for all those years, Prof. Denys Bouliane, has been a tremendous help in getting to refine - and trust! 鈥� my ear, as well as in getting me to formulate my ideas (musical or conceptual) precisely and clearly.
I also have to say that my studies with Norwegian composer Lasse Thoresen (in 91社区 for one term, then in Oslo for one year) have greatly expanded my musical hearing capacity, through my work with his method called Aural Sonology. Roughly speaking, it consists in a collection of taxonomies and analysis practices aiming to describe, through phenomenology (thus purely by ear), dimensions of sound which have been left aside by traditional music theory, such as directionality, energy, complexity, etc.
Explain your new piece being performed by the 91社区 Contemporary Music Ensemble in three sentences or less:
Jeux de chromes (in English, roughly: 鈥淧lays of chromas鈥�) is about anonymous, texture-based materials becoming more and more 鈥減regnant鈥� (from Sch枚nberg鈥檚 idea of 鈥淧r盲gnanz鈥�, i.e. what differentiates a fully-fledged theme from a simple melody) as the piece unfolds. The process is not linear: the musical ideas, at first purely textural, gradually gain recognizable profiles, certain intervals become motives, then the music goes back into textures; then I mix them a bit 鈥� and eventually theme-like structures come to dominate the music. There is an intrinsic conflict between those two extremes (anonymous/formless versus distinctive/articulated), but also a historical one: the piece seems to follow an 鈥渁nti-chronological鈥� course (鈥渕elody鈥� is often regarded as a device of the past, while 鈥渢exture鈥� is seen as 鈥渘ewer鈥�) but really aims to say that 鈥渘ew things鈥� can actually be said in both realms.
What led you to this particular topic?
The idea of 鈥淧r盲gnanz鈥� and the distinction between the anonymous/formless and the distinctive/articulated could be traced back to Sch枚nberg, but they were formulated admirably by one of my composition professors Lasse Thoresen in his book .
However, Jeux de chromes is actually the first piece where I did not force any extra-musical idea or pre-conceived structure upon myself before I started composing (as I would always do in earlier pieces). I started from a harmonic system that allowed me a certain degree of freedom and control, and freely composed several different musical ideas from there, and let them grow, by themselves and in relationship to one another. Eventually, links emerged between certain musical ideas, and became stronger (or weaker, in which case I kept the ideas for other projects). Then, a logical form started to appear, since certain ideas 鈥渘eeded鈥� to be heard before or after others to make logical sense. It soon became clear to me that the logic I was instinctively following was that of 鈥渁 quest for Pr盲gnanz鈥�, and from then, the piece crystallized very quickly.
Were there any findings that you found particularly surprising?
One of the findings that struck me was the strength of some of Thoresen鈥檚 concepts for describing and guiding what I would have otherwise only called 鈥渋nstinct鈥�. Admittedly, the concepts of Pr盲gnanz and distinctiveness were not really present in my mind when I started composing the piece 鈥� and yet once I understood what I was instinctively doing, those conceptual tools helped me refine and strengthen the direction I had already taken.
Another thing that surprised me is the reaction of my colleagues to whom I have shown sketches or reductions of the piece (only my supervisor and the CME performers have seen the final version at this stage). Because of the presence of 鈥渕ore traditional鈥� musical ideas, I was expecting to receive harsh critiques about being too conservative. But their feedback was nothing like that, which聽leads me to think that the final piece will be聽successful enough that even a trained composer will have something to chew on even in those (superficially) more traditional ideas!
What are the important practical implications of this piece?
I think Jeux de chromes can stand as a clear demonstration of some of the concepts I mentioned earlier, and how they can act on the understanding of musical form. Hopefully, that might inspire other composers to use them in their own way 鈥� I would find it very inspiring to hear what they come up with!
But I believe this piece will also have huge personal repercussions: I like to think that it marks a real turning point for me, as it is the first one (in a long while at the very least) where I felt like I was 鈥渂eing myself鈥� at every step 鈥� and the composition process has been a lot more enjoyable for it! I think this can also be heard in the music, especially for those who have heard some of my previous works. I already have many ideas for my next pieces that were born from this project, and I hope that if I am able to do them justice, maybe eventually a style could emerge from this!
What are your next steps?
I already have a few different projects in the oven, which all directly or indirectly use elements of Thoresen鈥檚 Aural Sonology in the compositional process itself. I have to finish my thesis first, though 鈥� which is a comprehensive analysis of Jeux de chromes 鈥� but I鈥檓 really looking forward to composing those other pieces!
What advice would you give to new students in your program?
Always trust your ears, and your tastes too! While it is vital to challenge oneself and聽step outside one鈥檚 comfort zone when trying to become an artist, it鈥檚 equally important not to lose contact with what 鈥渕akes you you鈥�. This is what no teacher can give, as well as the key to developing a voice which is at least personal (and eventually, perhaps, original too).
Where is your favourite place to study?
The Montreal聽Botanical Garden. We have the second biggest one in the world -聽better make use of it! The themed gardens are absolutely gorgeous (I have a soft spot for the Japanese one), but the arboretum (鈥渢ree museum鈥�) is where I really like to get my peace and quiet.
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
See above! I鈥檓 a little bit of a (amateur) plant geek to be honest鈥� I also have a soft spot for child-like pleasures: games, paper crafts, fairy tales 鈥� one can鈥檛 be 100% adult all the time I guess!
What is your earliest musical memory?
I think a lot of people will share this one: in my mom鈥檚 arms, in a rocking chair at home, her singing a song to me 鈥� I still know it all by heart!
If you hadn鈥檛 ended up in music, what would your alternate career path have been?
Something involving聽entertainment for children I think. Horticulture would have also been nice, but just thinking of those excruciatingly hot summer days, working outside for hours under the sun鈥� I have to admire those who are cut out for it!
What was the last book you read?
Lasse Thoresen鈥檚 Emergent Musical Forms 鈥� I鈥檓 actually still reading it, as it鈥檚聽not the kind of book that you can sprint through from cover to cover 鈥� you need to take your time, re-read parts of it, use the theory for yourself, then come back to it鈥� that being said, I鈥檓 having a total blast!
If you were offered a return plane ticket to anywhere in the world, where would you go?
I haven鈥檛 travelled to enough places to give a good answer I think 鈥� but! I have very fond memories of Norway聽(driving around with a friend in the fjords around Troms酶 is one of the most breathtaking experiences I鈥檝e had in my entire life). However, if I could visit a country that I have not been to yet, Japan is definitely the next one on my bucket list!
If you could invite any four notable figures from history聽to a dinner party, who would they be and why?
Just four? That鈥檚 a tough one! Maybe if I exclude people I can actually talk with often (for example Denys Bouliane), I could make this four鈥� let鈥檚 say: Joseph Haydn, Bela Bart贸k, Alexander Calder and Lasse Thoresen. Haydn, because I鈥檓 absolutely fascinated by his play with structure and semantics (his music sounds so easy but really is highly sophisticated when one just goes below the 鈥渉appy鈥� surface!). Bart贸k, because his compositions resonate with me to a degree I have not been able to find elsewhere. Calder, because his work is for me the perfect embodiment of deep, 鈥渟erious鈥� artistic genius mixed with humble, child-like play. Thoresen, because I know I still have worlds to learn from 鈥� and with! 鈥� him, and his thoughts are a tremendous inspiration for my musical work.
