An almost operatic vision of the prison world, both realistic and dreamlike, Les parloirs tells us about the encounters between prisoners and their families, fathers, mothers, partners, children and friends. Cheerfulness is sometimes stronger than the grey walls, words from outside and inside collide, memories flow with faces, dreams precede encounters and follow them too… These fragments of life unfold on the lips of the singers, with all the emotion of choral incarnation, as soloists, small groups, double choir or tutti, and the harmonies shared with the instrumentalists offer us a palette of expression commensurate with the words that the Clairvaux inmates have entrusted to us.
Public recording, extracts: Ensemble 2e2m, ensemble Territoires du souffle, conducted by Pierre Roullier. Recorded live at the Collège des Bernardins in 2016.
The extracts below are often cut at the beginning and end.
Difficulty rating: moderate to difficult
Inmates of the Clairvaux Central Prison,
Texts collected and put into a booklet by the composer.
French
SATB choir with some divisi, violin, viola, double bass, accordion/bandoneon, piano
Duration, details of form: 50 mins
Detailed cycle: 7 parts : Act I. Choral du sans-ami, Interlude, Chaconne 1; Act II. Choral du sans-ami, Dialogue; Act III. Choral du sans-ami, Fugue, Parloir des Amis; Act IV. Choral du sans-ami, Dialogue amoureux; Act V. Choral du sans-ami, Monologue, Tango, Monologue et dialogue; Act VI. Choral du sans-ami, Chœur des fils, Dialogue; Act VII. Choral du sans-ami, Chaconne 2, Final chorus