Cast
Maurice Bourgue — Oboist
Marc Desmons — Violist
Luc Héry — Violinist
Florent Jodelet — Percussionist
Marie-Josèphe Jude — Pianist
Laurent Manaud-Pallas — Violinist
Raphaël Perraud — Cellist
Axel Salles — Double bassist
Program notes
Through interviews and musical excerpts, the movie director Stéphane Loison draws the portrait of the French composer Henri Dutilleux.
Henri Dutilleux has bequeathed a remarkable legacy. The catalogue of his works comprises a small number of pieces, but their originality has placed him at the forefront of the French contemporay music scene of the second half of the 20th century. He always avoided to consider partisan controversy over aesthetics matters. Likewise, his works, whose poetics evoke at most Stravinsky and Roussel, defy any attemps of classification.
A great pedagogue, Henri Dutilleux taught and shared his artistic beliefs with his students at the École Normale de Musique de Paris, then at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris. In this documentary, the movie director Stéphane Loison brings the spectator along the Parisian streets to encounter the French composer. Combining interviews with Henri Dutilleux and excerpts of some of his works, including the string quartet Ainsi la Nuit, this documentary also invites the performers to share their musical impressions in front of Henry Dutilleux's works.