Roxanne Turcotte

Désordres collects nine works that Roxanne Turcotte realized between 2003 and 2008 in her Montréal studio, Studio Séducson, for a total of almost two hours. The composer describes the album as disorganized sounds that need to be put back in order, without getting too tidy about it. The disc was a finalist for the Opus Prize for album of the year in 2010-11.

Two long cycles of miniatures open the programme. Attractions, in 5.1 channels, deals with the pull of natural forces (falling objects, tides, planets), while the eleven scenes of Musée sonore give a voice to clinks, creaks and cogs, inspired by Tintin’s imaginary museum. Both were made for a sound and light installation with lighting engineer François Doyon, presented at Akousma in Montréal in January 2005. Bourdons enjoués mixes techno-pop with bagpipe and Breton bombard drones recorded by Michel Dubeau, and Capharnaüm reworks sounds of real conflicts into a piece for peace.

Espace vital sets two live pianists, Christian Parent on acoustic piano and Turcotte on digital piano, against ten modified and prepared piano tracks and spoken words, in an overture, two themes and twelve variations; the texts draw on the writer Élise Turcotte. Delirium, for 16 channels and dedicated to her father, starts from his illness and from the sailor Donald Crowhurst. Sous écoute! comes from an installation by Lázaro Armando Saavedra González, and Périple de l’eau follows water from the mountains to the sea.

Born in Montréal in 1960, Turcotte studied piano at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal and took a master’s degree in electroacoustic composition at the Université de Montréal in 1988 under Marcelle Deschênes and Francis Dhomont. She also works as a sound designer for television, cinema, radio, stage and circus.

DVD-Audio in OGplus, empreintes DIGITALes IMED 11106, 2011.