The time of beginning based on Ovid, the time of the first men, the time of civilizations: Raphaël Cendo has arranged his epic for choir, ensemble, and electronics in three large chapters, with, by way of an epilogue, uses this fragment of Heraclitus: If one does not hope, one will not find the unhoped-for, since there is no trail leading to it and no path. Registre des lumières, according to the composer, designates the book of memories, “memory of lights that transmitted a common, far away, past, milestones of our Humanity”. What inexorable force can push the limits of the possible? As an epilogue, but not a reply, this fragment by Heraclitus, “If you do not hope, you will not win that which is not hoped for, since it is unattainable and inaccessible.”

Registre des lumières

SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart
Ensemble musikFabrik
Conductor Marcus Creed
Computer Music Design IRCAM Grégory Beller

György Ligeti Lux Aeterna
Hans Zender ¿Por qué? / Warum ? French Premiere
Raphaël Cendo Registre des lumières French Premiere
commissionned by Françoise and Jean-Philippe Billarant, SWR, Kunststiftung NRW and Ensemble musikFabrik

An IRCAM-Centre Pompidou, Cité de la musique coproduction.
With the support of the ULYSSES network. This project was funded with the support of the European Commission. The views expressed in this publication are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission.
With the support of Impuls neue Musik, Franco-German Fund for Contemporary Music. With the support of the Sacem.