This work takes up the architectural idea of the English philosopher Jeremy Bentham (18th-19th centuries), who wanted to create prisons where the inmates felt permanently under surveillance, without any privacy, so that they would never dare to do anything to the prison administration, their fellow inmates or themselves. It seemed to me that this idea could be put in parallel with the security drift of our current governments, particularly through the increasingly widespread use of video-surveillance systems.
Recordings, audio extracts: previously unreleased recording of Tolm ja lumi, performed by the ensemble Territoires du souffle. See opus 43 n°2.
Difficulty rating: moderate to difficult depending on parts
Jeremy Bentham, Pierre Reverdy, Oscar Wilde, Jaan Kaplinski, Pentti Holappa
Texts collected and set to booklet by the composer
French, English, Estonian, Finnish
Narrator, soprano, barytone, mixed choir, accordion, piano and video
Duration : 25 mn
Cycle details : chamber opera in three tableaux
In its original form, this work is being rewritten. The piece based on Estonian texts by Jaan Kaplinski becomes independent, under the title Tolm ja lumi (see opus 43 n°2). The song on the Oscar Wilde text also became independent, under the provisional title Prisoners song, and would appear under another title in the musical opus 93, One world at a time. The finale on Pentti Holappa’s Finnish text, Aïka Siperiassa (see Opus 43 no. 1), like the pieces mentioned above, is awaiting revision.
Publisher: Unpublished work