Hugues Dufourt
Erewhon

On the importance of percussion in the music of the 20th century, everything has been said and written: let's talk a bit about "Erewhon" then, one of the most famous compositions written for an ensemble composed solely of percussion instruments.

A few numbers to frame the issue: six percussionists in the ensemble, led by a conductor; four parts in which the piece is divided, 65 minutes the total duration. And most importantly, 150 percussion instruments provided in the score: the absolute protagonists of this adventurous piece, written between 1972-1976 by the French composer Hugues Dufourt.

"Erewhon", an anagram of nowhere: sometimes when listening to this work, one really feels in a no man's land. The first part immediately launches with the family of skin instruments (or membranophones: among them Saharan drums, bongos, tumba) drawing an intricate phrasing, occasionally punctuated by cymbals and other metallic percussion.

Following this introduction is the longest episode of the piece, the 27 minutes of the second part: a phantasmagoria of sounds produced by metallophone instruments: Turkish and Chinese cymbals, Thai and Filipino gongs, tam-tams, metal plates, for a very lively and fascinating sound storm.

So far, the intertwining of sounds has always been very tense, and for this reason, during the 18 minutes of the third part, the fury subsides: muted in dynamics and meditative in their long resonance, tuned instruments like vibraphone, marimba, and xylorimba draw a quiet landscape that seems specifically crafted for a bit of rest and contemplation.

The fourth part, also rather short like the first one, closes the circle of this piece by reintroducing the dry sounds of the skins with which the piece opened.

In some respects, an example of world music ante litteram, if only in the bold choice of instruments from five continents, "Erewhon" by Hugues Dufourt has now become a classic of its genre.