Instrumentation: piano solo, flute, clarinet, trombone, violin, viola, cello

Duration: 8 minutes

Year composed: 2018

Performers: Yumi Suehiro: piano, Daniel Curtis: conductor, NAT 28 ensemble

First performance: February 9th, 2019, Kelly Strayhorn Theater, Pittsburgh (PA), USA

Program note: …l’éclat des gouttes de pluie qui s’accrochent en tombant is a quotation, expansion, and transcription of my solo piano piece Mizuchi. Mizuchi was written for Yumi Suehiro in 2016. The title of this piece refers to a dragon-shaped river-god from Japanese mythology. The material of the piece is minimal and is based on repeated notes and the importance of the major 7th interval. It progressively transforms following the characteristics of the Mizuchi, a shape shifting creature.

…l’éclat des gouttes de pluie qui s’accrochent en tombant is an expansion of this piece for ensemble. The piano gives birth to contrapuntal lines that accompany the piano as solo instrument. As the title suggests, some notes from the piano are reprised by the ensemble as a resonance and then emancipate themselves to become independent and living lines. These lines sometimes enter into conflict with the piano, recounting the original story of the Mizuchi and its battle with the mythological hero Agatamori.

This piece is warmly dedicated to Yumi Suehiro who inspired the piece and to the ensemble NAT 28.