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

Duration: 10 minutes

Year composed: 2019

Performers: Nicholas Huneycutt: percussion, Daniel Curtis: conductor, NAT 28 ensemble

First performance: February 22th, 2020, Kelly Strayhorn Theater, Pittsburgh (PA), USA

Program note: Poisson soluble is inspired by the eponymous work of André Breton. This work is also known as the Surrealism manifesto. For this piece I decided to follow the teaching of Breton according to the « written surrealist composition ». « Write quickly, without any preconceived subject, fast enough so that you will not remember what you’re writing and be tempted to reread what you have written. Go on as long as you like. Put your trust in the inexhaustible nature of the murmur. If silence threatens to settle in if you should ever happen to make a mistake — a mistake, perhaps due to carelessness — break off without hesitation with an overly clear line. Following a word the origin of which seems suspicious to you, place any letter whatsoever, the letter « l » for example, always the letter « l, » and bring the arbitrary back by making this letter the first of the following word ». This exemple is translated in the piece with sound objects that keep coming back.

The piece is warmly dedicated to Nick Huneycutt and the ensemble NAT28.