Michael Jarrell

Trace-Ecart

A 'trace' is the visible sign that remains of an object now absent, but which was present. The 'écart' (gap) could be seen as the time difference between the first supposed experience of this object and its repetition. Between the trace and the gap, itself a palindrome full of meaning, Michael Jarrell's piece weaves its way by means of returning, repeating, leaving and forgetting. The orchestration also corresponds to the demands of the asynchronous copy, of the 'broken mirror' which binds the score and the scoring, namely a double ensemble of eight instruments (woodwind, brass and strings), two female voices (soprano and contralto) and three percussionists. The text is based on the statement of Joël Pasquier's two poems 'Trace' and 'Ecart' which are sung by the soprano and alto respectively. The words are broken up, and one vocal path intertwines with the other they are enriched by quotations from earlier writings, 'Trace' and 'Écart' by Georges Perec. The work is formed of two 'veils' separated by a central section, a sort of 'memory blank' which swallows up sounds in a long flowing stream ('Try to penetrate the sounds gently'), before disappearing for two bars which are geographically centrally placed. In bridging the 'gap' from one veil to the other the music succeeds in returning to the 'trace' (the origin), as well as in forgetting. These two words finally intermingle their differences at the end of the piece. The 'écart' or gap may be that place - central and 'empty' - where the work takes form. Peter Szendy, translated by Mary Criswick