LAURENT METTRAUX

 

Route Principale 160, CH-1791 Courtaman (Switzerland),

tel. + fax: (+41) 26/684.18.65, E-mail : laurent.mettraux(at)bluewin.ch

 

 

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 Welcome  ¦  Biography  ¦  Catalogue of works 

 

Documents to download  ¦  Score excerpts  ¦  Audio examples

 

CDs  ¦  Critics and articles  ¦  (First) performances  ¦  Texts  ¦  Links

 

 

 

PRINCIPAL WORKS

 

 

Orchestral works :

 

 

- Shadow for full orchestra (1995-8). Composition prize of the "Donaueschinger Musiktage 1998", chosen among more than 80 scores by a board of examiners including Wolfgang Rihm, Gérard Grisey, Christian Wolff, Sylvain Cambreling, Armin Köhler. First performed by the SWR Orchestra, conductor: Sylvain Cambreling (Donaueschinger Musiktage, October 17th, 1999).

 

 

- Symphony for Chamber Orchestra or First Symphony (1992). First prize and public award of the composition competition of the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra (1993). First performance: Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Jesus Lopez-Cobos (Lausanne, March 1st, 1993). First performed in its version for large orchestra by the Philharmonic Orchestra of Volgograd, conducted by Emmanuel Siffert (October 31st , 1999).

 

 

- Concerto for 15 soloist strings (1994) Personal order by Tibor Varga. First performed at the opening concert of the 1994 Festival by the Festival Orchestra, conducted by Tibor Varga (Sion, July 12th, 1994).

 

 

- Concerto n.2 for violin and string orchestra (1998) commissioned for the celebrations, in Budapest, of the 150th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution and of the Swiss Confederation. First performance by Isabelle Lambelet, the Camerata Symphonica of Budapest and Tibor Varga (Budapest, October 1st, 1998).

 

 

- Le Cocyte for orchestra (1999) ordered by the Pro Helvetia Foundation for the 100th Festival of Swiss Musicians (Swiss Musicians Association). First performed in St. Moritz by the Symphony Orchestra of Bern, conducted by Luca Pfaff (September 2nd, 2000).

 

 

- Concerto n.3 for violin and orchestra (1999) ordered by the Swiss radio for the International Violin Competition Tibor Varga 2000 (compulsory piece). First performed by Ryoko Yano and the Chamber Orchestra of Lithuania, conducted by Gilbert Varga (August 17th, 2000).

 

 

- Concerto for organ and orchestra (2002-3), for the inauguration of the new great organ of the Lausanne Cathedral (First performance in December 2003 with Jean-Christophe Geiser at the organ and the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Jean Balissat). The German first performance shall take place in April 2010 at the Gewandhaus of Leipzig, with Michael Schönheit at  the organ, and the Gewandhaus orchestra, conducted by Riccardo Chailly.

 

 

- Concerto for pi’pa, violin and orchestra (2002-05) for the famous pi’pa player Yang Jing and Boris Livschitz, violinist of the Zurich String Trio.

 

 

- La Mort sur un Cheval pâle (Death on a pale Horse) for orchestra (2007), commissioned by Pro Helvetia for the Basel Sinfonietta (first performance during May-June 2008 in Basel and during a concert tour in Germany).

 

 

 

Vocal works:

 

 

- Vers le Soleil Couchant (Toward the Setting Sun) (1995-6), Oratorio for soloists, choirs and orchestra (on words by around forty authors), commissioned by the Fribourg University choir. First performance on June 1rst and 6th, 1996, in Fribourg.

 

 

- Elogio della Notte for bass voice and piano (1997), text taken from sonnets by Michelangelo. First performed during the Orpheus Concerts in Zurich (March 1st, 2000).

 

 

- First lamentation for Maundy Thursday for mixed choir (1997) and Lucis Creator optime for children's choir (1997). Finalist works at the European Competition of Choral Composition of Amiens (1997).

 

 

- Crucifixion for mixed choir a cappella (1998). Commissioned and first performed by the Chamber Choir of the Fribourg University at the Greifswald Festival (Germany) and in Stettin (Poland), June 1999.

 

 

- La plus belle des Lumières, on texts taken from the Rig Veda, choral work commissioned by the Festival of Sacred Music in Fribourg for the New London Chamber Choir, for the Festival of 2000.

 

 

- Le Nom Caché (The Hidden Name), Oratorio commissioned by the Swiss National Exposition of year 2002.

 

 

- Plus près de toi que tu ne l’es toi-même for vocal ensemble (2006). Commission of the Foundation for Universal Sacred Music (New York), awarded through competition. First performance on November 4th,  2006, by the Sangita Choir, conducted by Susanne Peck.

 

 

 

Instrumental and chamber music:

 

 

- Gethsemané for organ (1990). First performance in Bern by Erwin Messmer (1994). This work has been often performed (Kreuzkirche Dresden, Braunschweig Cathedral, ...).

 

 

- Fantasia for violin (1995) commissioned by the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation. Compulsory piece of the International Violin Competition Tibor Varga 1995.

 

 

- Trio for violin, cello and piano (1995-6) commissioned by the Musical Youths of Fribourg. First performance by the Trio Animae in 1999 at the Bratislava Festival of Contemporary Music.

 

 

- String Trio (1997-8) commissioned by the Pro Helvetia Foundation for the Zurich String Trio. First performance during a concert tour in India and Sri Lanka, in August 2000.

 

 

- String Quartet (1998-9) ordered by the Jeunesses Musicales Gruériennes for the Talich Quartet. First performance in March 2003.

 

 

- Paremboles (1998) commissioned by the Triades Ensemble. First performance in Mar del Plata and Buenos Aires (October 1998).

 

 

- Duo for flute and clarinet (1999) commissioned by the Boswil Foundation for the Wiener Klangforum (First performance on November 27th, 1999).

 

 

- Duo for two saxophones, first performed on the occasion of the 12th World Congress of the Saxophone (Montréal, July 8th, 2000).

 

 

- Wind Quintet (2000). First performance by the Eole Quintet (Fribourg, on September 11th,  2000).

 

 

- Lux Mundi (2000). Commissioned by the European Music Month 2001. First performed by more than ten organists of Basel and surroundings, during the Holy Week of 2001.

 

 

- String Quintet (2001-2). Commissioned by the Zurich String Quintet, this work has been first performed during a concert tour in Helsinki (Finland) and Lithuania, in July 2003.

 

 

- Quintet for flute and strings (2002-3) for Alexandre Magnin and the Janacek Quartet (First performance in September 2003).

 

 

- Trio for clarinet, cello and piano (2003), order of the Avalon Trio, first performance during a concert tour in Ukraine and during the Festival « 2 days & 2 nights of modern music » of Odessa (April 2004).

 

 

- Complainte (2003). Written at the request of Shlomo Mintz to be the compulsory piece of the International Violin Competition of Sion (2003).

 

 

- Reflets for violin and percussion (2002-4). First performance in 2004, Costa Rica, by Jan Dobrzelewski and Stuart Marrs.

 

 

- Swiss Dances for four-handed piano (2003-4). First performed July 2004, by the Piano Duo Dominique Derron & Pius Urech.

 

 

- Stimmungen for four cellos (2005-6). Commissioned by the Festival Viva Cello of Liestal. First performance in August 2006, with the cellists Anita Leuzinger, Sebastian Diezig, Adam Mital and David Pia.

 

 

- Suite for three flutes (2005-6). Written for the ensemble Les Chemins de Traverse, which has first performed the work in April 2006, in Neuchâtel.

 

 

- Serenata in chiaroscuro for organ (2005-6). Commissioned by the Bümplizer Orgelserenaden on the occasion of their 20th season. First performance in November 2006 by Erwin Messmer.

 

 

- Émergences for violin and accordion (2006). First performed in July 2006, during the Festival of Auberive (France), by Marianne Piketty and Pascal Contet.

 

 

- Le Tombeau de Ravel for ensemble (2006). Commission by the Compagnie CH.AU, which has first performed the work in December 2006, in Vevey.

 

 

- Work for flute and string trio (2007-8) for the Flautarchi Quartet of Zurich

 

 

You can download the complete dossier in pdf or Word, under the rubric documents.

 

COMPLETE CATALOGUE    CATALOGUE FOR EACH INSTRUMENT    AUDIO EXAMPLES