Groult, Christine – “L’Heure Alors S’Incline…” – [Metamkine]

Louie Caliente   4/17/2016   A Library, CD

A 19-minute track from the “Cinema pour l’oreille” (cinema for the ears) series, dedicated to Italian avant-garde composer Luigi Nono and recorded in 1991 shortly after his death.

The piece is a slow-burn of musique concrete with a distinct cinematic feel. It starts very quietly with breathy wind instruments and barely-there bowed strings, like waves on a distant shore. The strings build at around the 4 minute mark into long drones, as orchestral voices fade in and out of existence. Later, whirling sounds almost like sirens. Harps zip, gongs crash, and manipulated tape sounds confuse and disorient the listener. Around 10 minutes in, the piece sounds like a jungle, full or cicadas, crickets, frogs and streams. The final minutes are full of suspense.