Fracture

Jean-Baptiste Zélal

Fracture

interpreted by

Jean-François Laporte

as part of:

Série Belgique; Totem électrique: Totem électrique XI

"Fracture (2019-20) is the first mixed piece I've composed. I'm particularly happy to have been able to work with an instrument designed by Jean-François Laporte, whose work has greatly inspired me in my musical projects.

The title of the piece, Fracture, refers to an event that marked my life at the time I began composing this music. The kind of event that seems to break the course of existence, after which life will never be the same again...

Anyone who has experienced it knows that strange sensation of suddenly feeling changed in spite of oneself, of questioning everything that constituted one's existence. All that's left is the unpleasant feeling of being far from home, and the hope of reconnecting for a moment with that past life through memories that persist and disappear or are reborn one day. Perhaps, then, listening to a piece of music is like living a life in miniature, shot through with perpetual changes and fickle memories.

The Babel Table proved to be a rich instrument for expressing the impressions I related to the theme of fracture. I needed to work on my perceptions, questioning and shaping them, whether related to sound, touch, gesture, perception of time - a complex sensitive experience. The richness and variety of timbres, morphologies, and gestures that it allows allowed this music to exist."