Dhomont Interview
Dhomont Interview
Dhomont Interview
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
https://about.jstor.org/terms
The MIT Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to
Computer Music Journal
This content downloaded from 132.64.31.253 on Fri, 11 Jan 2019 20:37:14 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Rosemary Mountain
Music Department, Concordia University
From Wire to Computer:
7141 Sherbrooke Street West, RF 322
Montreal, Quebec H4B 1R6 Canada
Francis Dhomont at 80
[email protected]
Computer Music Journal, 30:3, pp. 10-21, Fall 2006 Mountain: So it was the technology-its potential
? 2006 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. for recording things-that attracted you.
This content downloaded from 132.64.31.253 on Fri, 11 Jan 2019 20:37:14 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Figure 1. Francis Dhomont
in Paris, 2001. (Photo: Flo-
rence Gonot.)
Mountain 11
This content downloaded from 132.64.31.253 on Fri, 11 Jan 2019 20:37:14 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
something was missing in my life, so finally, things ing records. I bought the Traits des Objets Musi-
seemed stabilized a bit, and I managed to find the caux, which I read very carefully and seriously.
funds to buy some recorders and set up a little stu-
Mountain: How did you know about the existence of
dio for myself in the middle of the countryside.
the Traite? Was that through the GRM radio shows?
The first recorders were really not very good, they
didn't work properly, and they gave me a lot of Dhomont: I don't really remember, but I was listen-
trouble, but then I was able to buy some Revoxes. ing to those shows all the time, and reading-well,
Now, they were old Revoxes-what we call the really looking hard for anything that would relate to
G36-not very well known-big, old gray things this field-and I bought the Trait6 in 1966, just as it
with tubes in them. Have you seen that kind? They arrived on the shelves. Solftge des Objets Sonores,
worked very well. with the three records, came out a year later. So that
was how I taught myself. And in fact I began writing
Mountain: Yes! And how many did you have-two?
my own book about it.
Dhomont: Yes, two.
Mountain: Really? And do you have any trace of
Mountain: One can do a lot with two already. that?
Dhomont: Yes, sure-though I did manage to resus- Dhomont: Oh, well, I don't know, I might have
citate one of the old cheap ones I had for a third, to some notes somewhere, or maybe at the Universit6
allow me to do mixing and so on. de Montr6al.
Mountain: Were these two-track? Mountain: But that would be really interesting to
read, because if you were questioning the same is-
Dhomont: Well, you know, that was the most dra-
sues independently at the same time, you might
matic problem, because the first ones were quarter-
have different perspectives, different solutions.
track. I didn't know much about them, and the
salesman had told me they were excellent, and so Dhomont: Well, yes, I did have some different solu-
on, but it wasn't at all what I needed. So I con- tions, but those that worked, I remembered and
verted the quarter-track machine into half-track, used in my own work subsequently-I think! The
which was an awful lot of very complicated work. Traite
I was very important for me. I didn't know
had to buy new heads, and it never worked well. But
Schaeffer at the time, but I bought all the records
in the process of taking these old ones apart-youthat came out from GRM, including the first ones
of Schaeffer, that came out on the Philips label,
know, I was in the middle of the country all by my-
self doing this-I managed to create a variable- called Prospective of the 21st Century, and at the
speed recorder. same time, I was reading. So that was really my
You see, I replaced-there was a metal disc, like schooling.
this-it had three speeds-1, 2, 3, like this [he de-Mountain: Did these GRM radio shows occur
scribes with his hands three discs of decreasing di-
weekly?
ameter, with the smallest on the top]-and I took it
out. And since I was used to working with wood, IDhomont: I think they must have.
was able to turn a little cone, and the rubber slid
Mountain: You know, in Canada right now, we
along it.
don't have much on the radio.
Mountain: That's great!
Dhomont: Yes, that's true; it seems to be the same
Dhomont: Well, you know, when you have nothing, everywhere. In France, it's really diminished
you need to have imagination! So, that was the be- through the years. Even I made some GRM shows at
ginning of my electroacoustic career. You know, I lis- one point with Christian Zan6si, but now, there is
tened a lot to the radio-the Groupe de Recherches hardly anything. And it's the same everywhere: only
Musicales (GRM) editions-and I also started buy- a few shows in the middle of the night, when no one
This content downloaded from 132.64.31.253 on Fri, 11 Jan 2019 20:37:14 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
is listening. It's awful. But they were really solid through him I was able to get good prices on
shows, one hour long, with explanations of how the records, which helped me a lot. But no, there wasn't
music worked, who was doing it, the manipulations anyone to listen, because I wasn't in Paris, so it was
and so on. I kept the cassettes of the shows. difficult until the day I decided to put on my own
concert. In 1975, a few of us artists in the region
Mountain: What type of speakers did you have for
(Provence) founded a little festival of contemporary
listening to these shows? Were you able to hear de-
tails of the timbres and so on? music. It wasn't mainly electroacoustic music-it
was instrumental music mainly, classical, jazz,
Dhomont: Well, I can tell you a story about that! I rock, etc.-but Xenakis came, and Ligeti. Then I be-
had bought some better equipment, but I didn't came president of the society and continued for five
have a console. So I made one out of modules. I had years. Van Gogh is buried there. Saint-R6my-de-
made some radio sets when I was young, so I knew Provence is a tiny little village, but there were al-
how to solder, how to read diagrams, and so on. ways lots of painters and sculptors, so it was
Well, it worked, but there was a bit of hiss. Anyway, exceptionally active for its size.
although I had bought the best speakers I could af- So I organized these concerts. There was a young
ford, they weren't great, since I didn't have much man, Bruno d'Auzon, who came to work with me in
money. And one day, I went to the house of a friend the woodcraft business, to make some money, and
who was a technician and had some really good after a while-since he was interested in music-I
speakers, and we put on the tape of my new piece. suggested that he could help out with the concerts.
And all we could hear was a lot of heavy bass (He is now an electroacoustic composer and a
thumping. You see, I couldn't hear the bass very teacher in Nimes.) That was around the time that I
well on my speakers, so I put tons of it in! And I was went to find Francois Bayle to invite him to partici-
really taken aback when I heard it on these good pate in the concert. So he came with a big truck full
speakers-really alarmed-because I had to do of equipment. That's when I really started to have
everything again. But that's how it goes. contact with the electroacoustic music world.
I discovered the technical stuff like that, a bit at a
Mountain: How did you find the funds for this?
time. Because I was alone, I had to figure out how to
make things myself. In the middle of the country- Dhomont: Well, we didn't have much! But we were
side like that, there were no people who could re- full of goodwill. When the society was originally
pair my equipment. And I was having crises because founded, the local municipality gave us a bit of
I had to work all day in the woodworking shop to money to help out, but it wasn't much. Then, when
make money, and then I would work all night in the I became president, I went after SACEM (the French
studio, and the equipment wouldn't work properly. performing rights organization) in Paris for a bit of
Even when I went to Marseilles, no one there really support, and so on. But everything was volunteer-
knew what I needed. They could tell if a machine based: we only paid for the visiting musicians, and
worked or didn't work, but they had no awareness we didn't have to pay for labor. Everyone was just
of the subtleties in between. I would say, "But happy to help get it going. Of course, it doesn't con-
there's a little noise here," and they would shrug tinue forever, that kind of thing. But nevertheless,
their shoulders. It was difficult. we had a great two-week-long festival!
Mountain: So, apart from your friend with the good Mountain: And I suppose that people enjoyed com-
speakers, did you have any other people around you ing down to the south of France and drinking the
who listened to your music? Or did you have the wine. Did it have a name, this festival?
impression that you were stuck being a perpetual
student? Dhomont: Yes, initially it simply bore the name of
the artist society that founded it: Prisme. But when
Dhomont: By the way, my friend with the good I took over the presidency of the society, I chose the
speakers worked at FNAC, the record store, and name Musiques Multiples, because we played all
Mountain 13
This content downloaded from 132.64.31.253 on Fri, 11 Jan 2019 20:37:14 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
kinds of music, as long as it was contemporary. thought it a good idea. So in 1978, I arrived in Mon-
Much of it was instrumental. But we had Bernard treal, and stayed a few months, and then I went
Parmegiani, and Francois Bayle, and Daniel Charles back to Provence to organize the festival for the
who spoke about John Cage, etc. next year. But I was really exhausted that time. So
then afterwards, I returned to Montreal, and we
Mountain: And did these people not find it a bit
married, Marthe and I. And I must say that at the
odd to find you making musique concrete in the
Faculty of Music at the Universit6 de Montreal,
middle of nowhere, all by yourself?
they really opened their doors to me. They had a
Dhomont: Yes, certainly! But anyway, we soon en- studio there-not very sophisticated, but not bad,
tered into conversations, and they seemed to enjoy run by Louise Gariepy then. I met her and we got
it. At first, they wondered, "Who is this guy?" But along well, and she said, "You know, no one is re-
they quickly realized that I was quite serious, and ally using the studio much, so if you want, you can
frankly there were many who relied on me. And I work there sometimes." And so I worked there
did still know a few people in Paris. For example, most nights. And I made a long piece there, Sous le
when Ligeti and Xenakis came, it was through regard d'un soleil noir.
Claude Samuel who was organizer of the important We gave our first concert there, with the premiere
series called (and still is) Centre Acanthes. And of the first version of that work. (The hall wasn't
every year they had a program in Aix-en-Provence where it is now, but rather on COte-Ste-Catherine-
called Compositeur Celebre where young com- the Pavillion Marguerite d'Youville, where there is
posers could go for workshops. I had known Claude a hospital now. On the second floor was a space we
Samuel for a long time, and so we came to an agree- called Le 10-20, where we gave the concerts.) And
ment where he moved the whole program-not Jean-Jacques Nattiez was there, and even the dean,
only the invited composer but also all the per- who wanted to make a record of the piece, to
former-to our festival for one day. He got a bit of which I of course said yes. Then the dean pulled
publicity for his program out of the deal, and I bene- back a bit, but Jean-Jacques Nattiez urged me to
fited from excellent performers who played the talk to Francois Bayle at GRM, whom I knew of
work of Xenakis and Ligeti, so it worked well. And course a bit from the St-R6my festival days. He
then I moved to Canada. was quite enthusiastic, and we made the recording
with them.
Mountain: What prompted that?
I was then invited to go to GRM and work for a
Dhomont: Ah, well, that's a personal story, but I short time to produce some supplementary mate-
can tell it. You see, at one of the festivals, there was
rial, so I ended up creating an additional movement
a composer in Marseilles called Marcel Fr6miot-- for the work. And from that point, I started working
who is still there, in fact!-and he wanted a Cana-more closely with GRM, working in their studio,
dian singer to perform a piece of his. And I said, giving talks there, and so on. At that point, I had
"But I don't have the funds to pay a singer to comecompletely abandoned composing for acoustic in-
from Canada!" He said, "No, it's okay, she's cur- struments.
This content downloaded from 132.64.31.253 on Fri, 11 Jan 2019 20:37:14 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Figure 2. Mr. Dhomont in
Bourges, 1998. (Photo: In-
stitut International de
Musique Electroacous-
tique de Bourges.)
Mountain 15
This content downloaded from 132.64.31.253 on Fri, 11 Jan 2019 20:37:14 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
it-I was very happy to develop these courses, be- Dhomont: Well, I'm always thrifty! When I worked
cause it was an area that I knew well, and on the with tape recorders, I didn't have the most expen-
other hand, it was not at all known here in North sive ones, and I work on the basis that to make good
America. music, it can be done relatively simply, as long as
Sometimes I had arguments, for instance with the technical quality is good.
Jean Pich6, because he came from a different back-As far as software goes, as you know, I work with
Pro Tools, and also GRM Tools and a few plug-ins.
ground, but I said, "Listen, I know I'm not teaching
all aspects, but I am teaching something that is dif-
What else.. . oh yes, I have also kept some of the
ferent, so maybe I should keep going." But it wasoldof digital audio machines for reverberation and ef-
course important to have diverse points of view. fects, such as the Lexicon PCM 70 and 60-a very
good machine, it was-and I still use it.
Mountain: What about computer music? Did you
Mountain: And to create the sounds, did you al-
have any links with Vladimir Ussachevsky, people
like that? ways record them?
Dhomont: No, not at all. No-my training is inDhomont: Not always. Way back in the early days,
I actually bought a synthesizer-a little AKS, just
that of musique concrete. I never used a computer
at all until tape recorders became a thing of the when
past. it first came out-and I still have it and use it
from time to time. And then I also used lots of elec-
Of course, I knew something about it; I was very
aware of the difference between the German elec- tronic sounds, which I went off to different studios
tronic school and the Paris musique concrete one to create-at Marseilles, at GRM, at Bourges, etc.-
... but I was clearly of the latter. There was one as they had machines-synthesizers-that I didn't
guy, very well known in France, who right from the So I recorded many sounds there.
have.
beginning was working with computers; his name Mountain: So you would go there, record sounds,
was Pierre Barbaud. He really worked a lot in theand then take them back home where you would
field. I didn't know him; I knew his music a littlemanipulate them?
bit, but I wasn't very enthusiastic about the musi-
cality of it. What was good about it was that there Dhomont: Exactly. I always work that way, except
for once at Bourges, when I created a whole piece in
was finally a little bit of real music that started be-
ing produced-like the ILIAC Suite-the first steps their studios because I had to. Actually, twice I
towards actually using the computer to produce worked like that. But mainly, during all the time
music. It showed that it could in fact be done. Butthat
it was allotted to me, I would just collect sounds.
wasn't my specialty at all; I didn't feel connectedI to
would get to know the machine well. For example,
it. It's true that it seemed to be a tendency that Iwas
worked on the first Synclavier at Marseilles. You
more explored in Western Canada and in the States. see, I knew Jon Appleton very well, so I went to
visit him at Dartmouth College, and learned a bit
Mountain: Yes, it's true-the Universit6 de Mon- about the Synclavier from him, and then I was in-
tr6al didn't have so many students working withvited to spend a month at Marseilles, where they
computers-perhaps even now? had one too, and recorded lots of sounds with it.
Similarly, at Bourges, they had some extremely
Dhomont: Well, now it's changed quite a bit. For
example, there's Jean Pich6, who is quite open to
high-quality analog oscillators, so I was able to
create many sounds there too. Also, at GRM, I
computers-and now of course everyone uses them,
worked with the SYTER system. So I would record
but at the time, I seem to recall, back then, we did
all these sounds onto tape, in the early days, then
make a couple of attempts, but I can't remember
later onto DAT cassettes, so that I would have a
much about it. Anyway, it's not my field!
huge collection of sonic material-and then I
Mountain: Now you use the computer, though.would take it home, because I always preferred to
What software do you use? work at home.
This content downloaded from 132.64.31.253 on Fri, 11 Jan 2019 20:37:14 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Ever since the beginning, I had been collecting their attention starts to lag during one section, the
sounds, and I would begin developing them, little by change in the musical discourse will wake them up
little. I would get to know my material very well by breaking the perceived monotony. In other
and assemble it. And I would know my machines words, I learned very early on-as we were taught at
well, too. I don't like working with new machines, GRM-to avoid long static textures, so easy to cre-
because one just ends up producing banal things. ate on synthesizers but so often boring, or to use
But when one knows a machine very well, one can them but with significant bits and echos, which
get more deeply into it. So, I would take my sounds, give life to and articulate the sonic continuum. This
work with them, apply treatments from different style of writing is fairly representative of a so-called
tools, organize them, mix them, and eventually "French" style, which is sometimes considered by
produce a work on tape-or later on, put it into some circles within the electroacoustic milieu to be
Pro Tools. too information-rich, and therefore difficult to fol-
low. But, as I tend to think of electroacoustic music
Mountain: Do you still have sounds you've never
used? as more than mere entertainment, I feel that it is
quite acceptable to expect a bit of effort from the
Dhomont: Yes, a few-mostly sounds that haven'tlistener, since I have already made the effort to
been subject to much treatment. The sounds I took shape each detail of the work with care.
from the SYTER system, unfortunately, I think
Mountain: Do you think about a total duration
have all been used already. I was very fond of them!
before you begin a work? Do you choose your du-
But I had many acoustic sounds that I had
rations according to specific measures, or just
recorded-and I still record interesting sounds-
"by ear"?
and many of them I have not yet used. All my sonic
objects-I know where to find them! Dhomont: I generally have an idea of that at the be-
ginning. I even go so far as to predict the number of
Mountain: Well, it's all fascinating! Tell me: it's
sections with their respective durations. These
rare that a composition lasts more than 20 minutes,
even in the world of instrumental music. It is even choices are rarely arbitrary, but rather depend on
the general form I have chosen for the specific piece
rarer that a piece over 60 minutes long will not lose
in question. In the same way, I almost always find a
the audience to impatience or boredom. But you do
title for the work before beginning, because the title
that regularly, with success.
sums up, for me, the general concept that I have
Dhomont: Yes, clearly one of the difficulties of long chosen. But I don't feel obliged to subject myself to
pieces (30, 45, 60 minutes and more) is not wearying rigid rules, and if my intuition tells me, "That's not
listeners, of holding their attention. When I com- working," then I don't hesitate to make some
pose works of any substantial dimension, I am verychanges. Because even if I do go for a certain rigor
conscious of this problem. It's why I organize themfor the form and construction of my works, when-
into a succession of relatively short movements (of ever there is a doubt, it's my intuition that is always
from two to twelve minutes). That's what happens given the final word. However, it is rare that these
in Sous le regard d'un soleil noir (eight sections), . .types
. of changes will radically transform the genera-
mourir un peu (nine sections of durations that in- tive idea and the overall organization; they simply
crease and then decrease in size), Foret profonde (13take into account the discoveries that I am making
sections associated with the 13 Kinderszenen of during the compositional process.
Schumann), Cycle du son (four movements; the sec- Moreover, I often go back to work on a piece that
ond movement is itself divided into six interlinked has already been finished and presented in concert.
parts), and so on. Frequently I endeavor to "aerate" it; I remove the
Each section or movement has a particular char- elements that I find too long, useless, redundant-
acter that often contrasts with the preceding one. precisely because I think that they will tire the lis-
Thus, the interest of listeners is renewed, and if tener's hearing.
Mountain 17
This content downloaded from 132.64.31.253 on Fri, 11 Jan 2019 20:37:14 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Mountain: It seems to me that the majority of your herence of a musical discourse. The work must
works are based on "narrative" forms, giving the function at two levels: that of the concept and that
idea of a voyage or story, more than an exploration of the musical syntax used, in the same way that a
of sounds or textures for themselves. Do you think verbal narrative must transmit ideas through an un-
of it this way? derstood language.
Mountain: Do you normally start at the beginning
Dhomont: I have long thought that my body of
of a work, adding fragments in a more or less
work was made up of two main categories: on the
chronological way?
one hand, the rather abstract works (that is, where
the music is there just for its own sake-develop- Dhomont: I take a long time to construct my narra-
ments, variations, permutations of musical parame- tive works-months or years. I gather documents,
ters or morphologies, etc.), and on the other hand, ideas, readings, notes, sketched-out diagrams, lists
more figurative works that include extra-musical of sounds to find. I also reflect on the form and lis-
ideas (poetic, romantic, philosophical, psychoana- ten to previous works, simulations, etc. The dura-
lytical, social, etc.). But, as time goes on, I have no- tion of this preliminary phase varies, but is often
ticed that the majority of my works belong to the proportional to the work itself. Afterwards, I can
second category and that many of them do obey nar- then begin to organize the chosen materials, with
rative forms or rise from extra-musical arguments. the inevitable hesitations and regrettable bits cor-
Some do this in an obvious way, by using texts bor- rected through an attentive listening. It is ex-
rowed from works of writers, poets, philosophers, tremely rare that I build a work in a chronological
psychologists, spoken by various voices; others are way. In fact, that has happened only once, for Signd
inspired by specific situations, events, or ideas that I Dionysos, which was a sort of linear narrative. In
try to express through the music. general, I need to know from the beginning how the
I chose to abandon instrumental writing around work will end, and where the principal points of ar-
the mid 1960s to focus on my study of electroacous- ticulation for the musical discourse are. However,
tic composition, because I was convinced that this as these long works have separate sections, I may
new and very open domain, practically free of well work on those that are related to each other
rules-where the poetic image could be freely asso- but don't follow one another in the final piece.
ciated with a musical vocabulary-was capable of I work a bit like a filmmaker, because I use a
drawing on very diverse creative fields. The idea "story board" to figure out how the piece should
stayed with me when I noticed that I was often posi- evolve. Also, like a filmmaker, I can improvise dur-
tioning myself just at the edge of narrative, and that ing the shooting. Lots of details can be modified,
I was in search of a kind of musical dramaturgy, adapted, or abandoned during the production, de-
close to opera, but an opera free of singers, tradi- pending on the problems encountered and solutions
tional instruments and all the conventions of lyric discovered. But the overall form and the generative
art. It's therefore not surprising that, 45 years later, I idea don't change.
realize that I remained faithful to my intentions
Mountain: Can you give some examples of names
first and that behind my music there is often some-
of composers who have influenced you the most-if
thing else. I could almost say that music is for me
there are any?
the language that I use to speak of aspects of being.
However, not all my works belong to the narrative Dhomont: It's clear that musique concrete had a
domain, and some could be considered "pure music." crucial influence on my work. Of course I am think-
I should add that, for me, all musical organiza- ing of Pierre Schaeffer, but also Pierre Henry,
tion-even that which illustrates something- Frangois Bayle, Bernard Parmegiani, Luc Ferrari,
needs to follow musical criteria. This means that Michel Chion, and, in general, the composers of
the logic of a narrative alone does not ensure the co- GRM in Paris. But naturally, composers like Stock-
This content downloaded from 132.64.31.253 on Fri, 11 Jan 2019 20:37:14 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
hausen, Xenakis, Varese, Berio-who are above all pleonasm. In Sous le regard d'un soleil noir, for ex-
instrumental composers-also counted for a lot. ample, there is a section of the work where a female
Among the composers of "pure" instrumental mu- voice describes what madness is. At this moment,
sic, I would mention Machaut, Monteverdi, Bach, it's obviously necessary to avoid emphasis, sonic
Beethoven, Schumann, Debussy, Ravel, Berg, delirium, loud cries. I therefore used an agitated but
Stravinsky, Messiaen, Ligeti, Scelsi, Boulez, Kagel understated rhythmic vibration throughout the
(but these are just the ones I can think of at the mo- whole section, at a low dynamic level with simply a
ment-there are lots more)-and contemporary few bursts of sound from time to time, like an inner
music in general, and jazz. tremor.
Mountain: Do you still listen to other electroacous- Mountain: Now, as a retiree, how do you find post-
tic music? university life?
Dhomont: Yes, not only because of my personalDhomont: At the time that I left the university in
interest but also because I participate in numerous1996, I had not been teaching such a heavy load. I
juries. had managed to have my classes all grouped into
one or two days at most, which wasn't very tiring.
Mountain: You incorporate a lot of spoken words
But when I really didn't need to go to the university
into your works. I noticed that when you talked of
anymore, and I could spend all my time as I wished,
your first experiments with the magnetic wire
without having to make arrangements if I was goin
recorder, making noises and sounds with the bottles
to travel, for example, or if I wanted to work all
and so on, that you also mentioned using fragments
night and sleep during the day, I experienced a fan-
of conversations with your friend. Is there a direct
tastic feeling of total freedom.
link with these early experiments, or does it come
from somewhere else? What I did miss was not meeting with the stu-
dents any more. I always really enjoyed teaching
Dhomont: My attraction to words comes partially and having discussions with them. I tried to give
from an appreciation of the sound of voices them- them the taste for electroacoustic music and art in
selves-their particular "grain"-but above all general. In return, they gave me their enthusiasm
from my lifelong interest in literature, poetry, and and all sorts of useful information on life in Mon-
text in general. My parents read a lot. My father and treal and the latest technological gadgets. I have
one of my uncles were writers, and I was attracted very fond memories of all those years of study and
to books from a very young age. I was also a fairly friendship.
gifted student in the humanities.
Mountain: It is obvious that many of them have
Mountain: How do you choose the text for a work? very fond memories of you as well! What do you
wish for in your future?
Dhomont: They are always ones that moved me or
fascinated me when I read them, whether Kafka, Dhomont: As far as that goes-since it's not rea-
Freud, Laing, fairy tales, Lautr6amont, and many sonable to think about the long term!-I will stay
others that I have not yet used. active for as long as possible. I wish for passion and
wisdom. For the moment, my health still allows me
Mountain: When you create a section of a work, do
to compose, to write, to travel, to participate in the
you think in terms of atmosphere-melancholy,
music world-and I won't deprive myself of it! In
happy, strong, weak?
2005, I made a dozen trips in Europe and Canada for
Dhomont: Yes, certainly. I try to translate the feel- concerts and conferences. I am in the middle of
ing or idea that the words suggest to me through the working on two new compositions: one a long work
evocative power of the sound. Of course, I strive to on Kafka, which I have been thinking about for ten
avoid making redundant illustrations of the text, a years and for which I have already completed a part
Mountain 19
This content downloaded from 132.64.31.253 on Fri, 11 Jan 2019 20:37:14 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Figure 3. Mr. Dhomont in
Paris, 1999. (Photo: Michel
Lioret, Institut National de
l'Audiovisuel.)
D
a
a
h
f
b
a
t
r
liii .... m
new piece.
ded
Va
th
bir
dio
are
Stu
wi
lin
th
tio
We
pla
nat
ver
con
Mo
yo
it's
en
we
This content downloaded from 132.64.31.253 on Fri, 11 Jan 2019 20:37:14 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Table 1. Electroacoustic Music Compositions by
Francis Dhomont
Mountain 21
This content downloaded from 132.64.31.253 on Fri, 11 Jan 2019 20:37:14 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms