Jean-Francois Charles

I'm very thankful to David Gompper and the musicians who performed on April 20, 2025 my composition Nigritella nigra : Sayyod Mirzomurodov, clarinet Yestyn Griffith violin I Michael Klyce, violin II Kylie Little, viola Hanna Rumora, violoncello

Clarinetist Donald Oehler just contacted me to ask a few details about my composition for clarinet & string quartet Nigritella nigra . As I said in my 2007 blog post, this piece was really my first "classical music" composition. Here is the manuscript of the quiet first page. It reminds me of the small room I was living in at the time, in Annecy . Donald Oehler is a Professor of Music at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is building a catalog of works for clarinet and string quartet: I am looking forward to seeing this catalog released! Speaking of catalogs, I was surprised to see Nigritella nigra mentioned in the International Clarinet Association score collection at the University of Maryland . A surprise, and an honor!

A composition for clarinet and string quartet Nigritella nigra 's first part (until 3'50'') consists in a chord which color changes through the use of microtones. This is a musical image of the flower's vanilla scent. The short central passage (until 4'15'') is a deforming mirror. After that comes a distorted retrograde of the first part. The concentration of energy in microtones in the first part is transformed in more extravert gestures in the second part. The flower Nigritella nigra has a strong character! Avignon - Acanthes I composed Nigritella nigra in 1998, for my first participation to the contemporary classical music center Centre Acanthes . Sofia Gubaidulina was the guest composer, while Viktor Suslin was responsible for the composition workshop. You are listening to the recording of the final concert, featuring musicians from the Orchestre Lyrique de Région Avignon-Provence , conducted by Sylvio Gualda: Didier Breuque, clarinet D...