Denis Bosse belongs to a rising generation of Belgian composers. Born in Bordeaux, he first turned to a scientific career before devoting himself entirely to music. He subsequently studied in all the establishments that are obligatory milestones for young composers (Darmstadt, Centre Acanthes) before settling in 1989 in Belgium where he continued his studies with Jacqueline Fontyn and Frédéric Rzewski, among others.
From his scientific past Denis Bosse has retained the spirit of research and the desire not to become set in pre-established ways. Even though he declares a close artistic affiliation with Luigi Nono and Helmut Lachenmann, he has no hesitation in mixing different æsthetics in one and the same work, and it is quite clearly this that gives his musical language its utter specificity. The question of listening lies at the heart of Denis Bosse’s music; it is not just a mere consequence of the creative act but a dynamic act that binds together both composer and listener. For him, sound is transformed as soon as it reaches the listener, a relationship of desire being then created, and silence constitutes a no less essential part of this composer/listener relationship. In exploring these silences, Denis Bosse is exploring the “fields of the inaudible”, a generic title he gives to his current approach.
The four works on this disc are very fine revelations. First and foremost the trio Pyrofolies, a veritable metaphor of fireworks in music, constructed in the form of an accelerated accumulation of musical material that starts off, rises to incandescence, explodes and is consumed. The CD continues with a work for solo violin, Lettre à Julie-Anne Derome, Liances for solo piano, as well as Le chant du funambule for solo cello, a work that explores the whole range of the instrument’s technical and aural diversity, the golden thread that runs through the whole of Denis Bosse’s music.
Just as intense creative activity and commissions from certain quartets have led to a renaissance of composing for that formation, the Trio Fibonacci, by maintaining a close and dynamic relationship with composers of today, is a genuine motor for keyboard trio compositions. They are unquestionably the finest performers of this music.
