LAURENT METTRAUX
Route Principale 160,
CH-1791 Courtaman (Switzerland),
tel. + fax: (+41)
26/684.18.65, E-mail : laurent.mettraux(at)bluewin.ch
Welcome
¦ Biography
¦ Principal
works ¦ Catalogue
of works
Donation and support ¦ Documents to
download ¦ Score excerpts ¦ Audio examples
CDs ¦ Critics and articles ¦ (First) performances ¦ Texts
¦ Links
WORKS FOR /
WITH ORCHESTRA(S)
(catalogue from August
1st, 2010)
FOR ORDERING A SCORE - PRICE
LIST
M.466 : Symphony for chamber orchestra (1992) [14']
for chamber orchestra (2*-2*-2*-2*
2-2-0-0 Timp. Strings)
37 (+2) pages
Performing material to be asked from the composer.
CD recording
Presentation, score excerpts and audio excerpts
This
work, first performed very successfully by the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra,
conducted by Jesus Lopez-Cobos, has got the first
prize and public prize of the first competition for young composers in
1993. Tragic and passionate work, taking advantage of all the
resources of a chamber orchestra. A slightly revised version has been
first performed in 1999 by the Philharmonic Orchestra of Volgograd, conducted
by Emmanuel Siffert.
M.515 : Ombre (Shadow) (1995-8) [14']
for full orchestra (3*-3*-3*-3*
4-3-3-1 4Perc. Strings)
36 (+4) pages
Performing material to be
asked from the composer.
Presentation — score excerpt (pdf)
Impressive work, based on
a tale by Edgar Poe, where terror and anguish mix together, with sometimes
strange sonorities, from the imperceptible to the imposing ffff. This work won 1998 the prize of the Donaueschinger Musiktage, awarded for the first time. First performance by the SWR Symphony Orchestra
Baden-Baden-Freiburg, conducted by Sylvain Cambreling,
Donaueschingen, 17.10.1999.
M.603 : Le Cocyte (1999) [11’]
for full orchestra (3**-3*-3**-3* bar. sax.
4-3-3-1 4/5Perc.
Strings)
15 (+4) pages
Performing material to be
asked from the composer.
Presentation, score excerpt and audio excerpt
Describes the freezy and
anxious atmosphere of the frosty lake called up by Dante in his Divine
Comedy. Ordered by Pro Helvetia for the Festival of Arts
on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Association of Swiss
musicians. First performed by the Symphony Orchestra of Bern, conducted
by Luca Pfaff, St. Moritz,
2.9.2000.
M.458 : Lacrimosa (1990, rev. 2006) [8']
for orchestra or chamber
orchestra (2-2-2 (2 basset horns ad libitum)-2 2-2
3Perc. Strings)
20 (+4) pages
Performing material to be asked from the composer.
This
work, conceived as a « Tomb of Mozart », draws its thematic substance from two
quotations, one taken from the Masonic Funeral Music KV 477, and the other from the Lacrimosa of the Requiem. Erected like a funeral monument
with granite walls, this dramatic work contains a more elegiac central part.
M.464 :
Vision Immanente (1992, rev. 2006) [7']
for full orchestra
(3*-3*-3-3* 4-2-3-1 Hp Timp. Strings)
19 (+4) pages
Performing material to be asked from the composer.
This work,
of epic character, contains also more agitated passages, contrasting with calm
moments.
M.654b : Le Tombeau de Ravel (2006, orch. 2006-7) [6']
for chamber orchestra (2*-2*-2-2*
2-0-0-0 1Perc. Strings)
23 (+5) pages
Performing material to be asked from the composer.
Presentation, score excerpt and audio excerpts
of the original
version for ensemble
This work has been written for a project of the Compagnie CH.AU, for which six composers have written one
movement each, corresponding to one of the parts of the Tombeau
de Couperin by Ravel. This piece inspires itself of the Menuet
of the Tombeau de Couperin, and has principally an
elegiac, tender and nostalgic character. The original version of this work is
written for an ensemble of 7 instruments.
M.662 : La
Mort sur un Cheval Pâle (Death on a Pale Horse) (2007)
[11’]
for full orchestra
(3*-2*-2*-3* 4-4-3-1 2Perc. Strings)
30 (+6) pages
Performing material to be asked from the composer
Presentation, score excerpt and audio
recording
Commission by Pro Helvetia for the Basel Sinfonietta. The work is inspired by the episode of the apparition of the 4th
Rider of the Apocalypse and describes the
frightful atmosphere and the sensations of terror it inspires. In order to obtain this, the work uses all the potentialities of the
orchestra, among which, at some places, strange sounds. The dramatic tension is
ensured by the opposition between, on one hand, the dynamism of the baneful
action of the Rider and of his lightning ride, and, on the other hand, the
anguished awaiting and the static pictures of the desolation following the
sudden arise of Death. The first performance took place on May 31st,
2008, at the Basel
Cathedral, with the Basel Sinfonietta conducted by Winfried Toll.
M.610 : Offrande (1999, rev. 2008) [15’]
for orchestra (2-2-2-2* 2-2-3-1 2Perc. Strings)
88 (+3) pages
Performing material to be asked from the composer
This work is based on the theme of the Musical Offering, proposed to Bach by Frederic II of Prussia. Several appearances of the theme in canon (generally from 8 to 12 voices, and 20 voices at the end) follow one another with many countersubjects. A rhythm counterpoint forms itself by the adding of various formulas, with a great independence of the voices. A progressive densification in stages exalt the « thema regium » until the final height.
In preparation :
Orchestration of the
Swiss Dances, M. 635
M.481 : Concerto for 15 soloist strings (1994) [20']
for 8 violins, 3 violas, 3 cellos and double bass
103 (+1) pages
Performing material to be
asked from the composer.
Presentation, score excerpt and
audio recording
Each instrumentalist is at the same time soloist,
chamber musician and member of the orchestra. 3 movements: passionate, elegiac,
and the third more rhythmical, with successive cadenzas for each of the 15 soloists.
First performed during the opening concert of the Tibor
Varga Festival 1994, by the members of the Festival
Orchestra, conducted by Tibor Varga.
M.505 : Concerto (1994) [17']
for piano and orchestra (3*-3*-3*-3*
4-2-3-1 3Perc. Strings)
Full score: 51 (+2) pages
Reduction for 2 pianos: 57 (+1) pages
Work yet to be
first-performed (!! please
contact the composer for first performance)
Impressive work, with a
great variety of colours. Slow introduction,
virtuoso part followed by a slow movement altogether of great tenderness and
great sadness. The end is a slow rise towards the light, going through various
stages.
M.544 : Concerto n.1 (1996) [13']
for violin and orchestra (2*-2*-2*-2*
2-0-0-0 Strings)
Full score: 20 (+4) pages
Reduction violin and piano: 11 (+1) pages
Solo violin part: 5 (+1) pages
Work yet to be
first-performed (!! please
contact the composer for first performance)
In two parts, the first one desolated and tragic, with
the cadenza almost at the beginning of the work, and the second one meditating
and profound, going away at the end towards high sounds (soloist part), towards
deep sounds (orchestra), and towards silence.
M.579 : Concerto n.2 (1998) [19’]
for violin and string orchestra (6-6-4-4-1/ 2)
M.579: Full score: 58 (+3) pages
M.579a: Reduction with piano: 32
(+2) pages
Solo violin part: 12 (+2) pages
Performing material to be
asked from the composer.
score excerpt (pdf)
First movement virtuoso
and passionate, the second calm and meditative, the third energetic. The cadenza, particularly expressive, is to be found at the end of the
second movement. First performance in Budapest, conducted by Tibor Varga, with Isabelle Lambelet as soloist.
M.607 : Concerto n.3 (1999) [20']
for violin and full orchestra (3**-3*-3*-3*
4-3-3-1 T.-t. Strings)
M.607: Full score: 51 (+2) pages
M.607a: Reduction with piano: 43
(+2) pages
Solo violin part: 17 (+1) pages
Performing material to be
asked from the composer.
Presentation, score excerpts and audio
recording
In two parts. The first virtuoso and dramatic,
the second elegiac, tristamente semplice. Ordered by the Radio
Suisse Romande - Espace 2, compulsory piece of the
International Violin Competition Tibor Varga - 2000. First performed by Ryoko Yano, winner of the interpretation prize and 1st
prize of the Competition, and the Chamber Orchestra of Lithuania, conducted by
Gilbert Varga.
M.628 : Concerto for organ and orchestra (2002-3) [18']
for great organ and orchestra (2*-2*-2*-2 * 2-2-2-0
3Perc. Str.)
40
(+4) pages
Solo
organ part (B4) : 35 (+3) pages
Performing material to be asked
from the composer.
Presentation,
score excerpts and audio recording
First performed on the occasion of the inauguration of the new great organ of the Cathedral of Lausanne (December 2003). German first performance : June 2010 at the Gewandhaus of Leipzig, with Michael Schönheit and the Gewandhaus orchestra, conducted by Riccardo Chailly. Alternately virtuoso, thoughtful, fiery or majestic. The organ has a dialogue with the instruments or opposes the orchestra.
M.629 : Double Concerto for pipa, violin and orchestra (2002-5) [21']
(2*-2*-2*-2 * 2-0-0-0 2Perc.
Strings)
64 (+6) pages
Pipa and violin part : 40 (+4) pages
Performing material to be
asked from the composer.
To be first performed soon !
Work written for the famous pipa
(chinese lute) player Yang
Jing, and the violinist Boris Livschitz. In three movements :
the first one alternates mysterious and energetic passages, the second one is
meditative. The third, Eruptivo, contains an
important cadenza for the soloists.
In project :
Concerto for percussion
and orchestra (for Pedro Carneiro)
Concerto
for four-handed piano (for the Silver-Garburg Duo)
Concerto for Harp (for
Chantal Mathieu)
M.528 : Vers le soleil couchant (Towards the setting sun), oratorio (1995-6) [42']
for 4 soli (SATB), children's or young girl's choir, mixed choir and
orchestra (0-c.a.-2 basset horns-2
0-2-3-0 Perc.(2) Vl. and Vc. soli strings)
M.528 full score 148 (+ 15)
pages
M.528a reduction voice/piano: 91
(+15) pages
Performing material to be
asked from the composer.
CD recording
Numerous texts, also superimposed, on the subject of death, from the epic of Gilgamesh to E. Brontë, from the Vedas to Apollinaire (in English, French, German, Italian, Latin and Sanskrit languages). Very impressive work in its expressivity and its musical as well as philosophical development. Multitude of climates and very appeased ending. An order from the choir of the Fribourg University, which has first performed this work with great success in June 1996.
M.625 : Le Nom Caché (The Hidden Name), oratorio (2001-2) [48']
for 4 soli (SATB), mixed choir, solo cello, two pianos and percussion (6
players)
M.625 full score 149 (+ 30) pages
M.625a reduction voice/piano:
197 (+26) pages
Performing material to be
asked from the composer.
CD recording
Presentation, score excerpts and audio
excerpts — Text
Ordered by the National
Swiss Exposition (2002). Work based on texts stressing the anguish, and then
the appeasement of the beings facing the mystery of a hidden God, that can’t be
named. The work develops itself while following the various human feelings : questioning, rebellion, despair, haunting doubts,
acceptation of the limits of human comprehension, contemplative silence.
M. 672 : Choral
Variations on the Christmas Carol « Vom Himmel hoch, da
komm’ ich her » (2009) [15']
for choir and orchestra (2-3*-0-3*
0-3-3-0 Hp. Vle-Db)
M.672 full score 40 (+8) pages
M.672a reduction voice/piano: 34 (+4) pages
Performing material to be asked from the composer.
Commissioned by the Gewandhaus
Leipzig. First
performance June 2010 with the GewandhausChor and the
Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig conducted by Riccardo Chailly (during the Leipzig Bachfest
and the concert season of the Gewandhaus). Uninterrupted Variations, often intermingled, on two themes (the choral
and a chromatic theme) treated by evolving modification and by numerous canons.
The work is as well contrapuntal and lyrical, fluctuating between anguished
expectation and confident hope in the divine coming. The
passages for choir and orchestra, on a few verses of the text by Luther,
alternate with those written for orchestra only. The score is written
for the same instruments as in Stravinsky’s Chorale Variations.
All commissions welcome!