Premiere performance by Cappella Nicolai on November 18, 2021, Nicholas Basilica Amsterdam, during Festival of Nine Lessons & Carols.

Lessons&Carols 2021

O Magnum Mysterium

"C'est ce qui n'est pas Homme autour de lui qui rend l'Homme humain" op. 73 (2015-2016) is an electroacoustic piece (acousmatic) originally for a set of 5.1 speakers "home theater", here in its stereo version. It was commissioned by the Musée de Bagnes (Bagnes museum) in Bagnes valley, Valais, Switzerland, which initiated an exhibition about Anthropocene, a complex relation between man and his environment, named "Valaisan par nature?". The piece follows the idea of the quotation from Henri Michaux that gave its title, with sounds made in the mountains of Val de Bagnes from two kind of sources: nature on one side (rivers, birds, fields, mammals...) and human mountain activities (livestock, hydroelectricity, ski lifts, silviculture, churches bells, mountain bike, ski and steps in snow...). The goal was to mix both influences to make human-sounds be confounded with natural-sounds, and the other way around. The piece was played in a loop during the whole exhibition that took place from 21th of february 2016 to 22th of may 2016.

C'est ce qui n'est pas Homme autour de lui qui rend l'Homme humain

Valentin Villard

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