Caroline Charrière

Le Temps

About the movements of the suite 'Le Temps' (The Time)

Kronos… First I thought about a more peaceful sounding work with a title like 'The Delights of Time'. Then the piece changed slowly. A fast, dissonant sequence slipped into the middle of the movement and the beginning became dull, menacing together with the new title: Kronos, assimilated to god Cronos (or Saturn) but becoming the god of Time who devours his children.
L’attente (Expectation) illustrating the second movement also appeared after the composition was finished, expressing at first quiet, even good-heartedness moods before impatience, irritation and hope begin to interfer. Alas, nothing happens, and no one arrives.
The third movement, L’urgence (Emergency), rushes through the piece, with febrility and extreme agitation.
The first movement was premiered in October 2005 in Corpataux (Switzerland), the 2nd and 3rd movements in December 2006 in Fribourg by the Chamber Orchestra Helvetica conducted by Alexandre Clerc.
La nuit (The Night), the fourth movement, was commissioned by the Chamber Soloists Zurich and first performed in September 2007 in Bern. I wanted to write music expressing the sensation of infinity within a peaceful calm, suspended in time.
Caroline Charrière,
Fribourg, December 2007