It was in the particular context of my work at Clairvaux prison that I decided to compose a string trio. The dual identity of this place steeped in history, first as a monastery, then as a prison, inspired my project: Leçons de Ténèbres without text or religious reference, expressing the revolt of the inmates as much as their inner calls; using music to convey the images that remain with me as I walk through the gates and walls, some of which still belong to the former abbey, like a setting of stone and concrete. The theme is therefore inspired by three elements: firstly, the trio, with a dodecaphonic theme in two chords of three double-strings; secondly, the prison, with a series of 12 notes each played twice with a rebound effect, like the sound produced by electronic locks whose jingling has replaced the metallic jingling of keys; finally, the abbey, with an extremely strict time schedule (like the monastic rule developed according to the Liturgy of the Hours, as restrictive as prison organisation) designed to last twelve minutes, divided into eight minutes of sound and four minutes of silence (total or partial).

This work was required for the music option in the baccalauréat in 2013 and 2014.

Recording, musical extract: CD Aeon AECD 1092, Harmonia Mundi distribution, 2010. Pasquier Trio, Régis and Bruno Pasquier, Roland Pidoux.