Féron, Silencieusement va la sève, op.25

Written at the request of Alain Rizoul, this first work for guitar has no intention of redundantly duplicating the flamboyantly sensual lyricism of Saint John Perse’s description – in Stanza 14 of his collection Éloges (Praises) – of a sunny morning in Guadeloupian port of Pointe-à-Pitre, the poet’s native town. Indeed, rather than illustrating the poem, Alain Féron seeks to distill its essence. Opening with an oneiric prelude leading to a restless march, followed by a dance reflecting on Féron’s Senegalese childhood, the piece takes a turn through an unexpected transition that leads to a last elliptical development where wisps of previously heard material float in the air and evaporate back into silence. Alain Féron’s music is thus informed by a particular attention to the melodic line, though the line often « dissolves » organically within the music’s global field that – through the magic of Féron’s writing – unifies the harmonic, polyphonic and metrical axes into a seamless whole. The musician making the effort to follow this structural melodic backbone will discover its intensely lyrical expression, guided by a singular dramatic and formal sensibility.