LAURENT METTRAUX
Route Principale 160, CH-1791 Courtaman (Switzerland),
tel. + fax: (+41) 26/684.18.65, E-mail : laurent.mettraux(at)bluewin.ch
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works ¦ Catalogue of works
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excerpts ¦ Audio
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MOST IMPORTANT
FIRST PERFORMANCES
- Lausanne, March 1st, 1993, first performance of the Symphony for Chamber Orchestra or First Symphony (1992), by the Lausanne Chamber
Orchestra, conducted by Jesus
Lopez-Cobos. This work won the first prize and public award of the composition
competition of the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra (1993).
- Berne, March 27th,
1994, first performance of the organ piece Gethsemané (1990), by Erwin Messmer.
- Sion, July 12th,
1994, first performance of the Concerto for 15 soloist strings (1994), personal order by
Tibor Varga, at the opening concert of
the 1994 Tibor Varga Festival by the Festival Orchestra, conducted by Tibor
Varga.
- Gruyère-Epagny, from July
14th to 31st, 1995, first performance, during 11 performances,
of the scenic work Lysistrata (1994-5), after Aristophanes. The theatre
company La Catillon (prepared by André Pauchard), the choirs and
instrumentalists were directed by the composer.
- Sion, August 12th
and 13th, 1995, first performance of Fantasia for violin
(1995). Commission by the Swiss
Broadcasting Corporation, it has been the compulsory piece of the International Violin
Competition Tibor Varga 1995.
- Fribourg, June 1st
and 6th, 1996, the Oratorio for soloists, choirs and orchestra Vers
le Soleil Couchant (Towards
the Setting Sun - 1995-6),
commission of the Fribourg
University choir,
has been first performed by this choir, the Choir of the Holy Cross College of
Fribourg and an ad hoc orchestra, directed by Pascal Mayer. Soloists :
Christa Goetze, Liliane Zürcher, Hans Peter Graf and Michel Brodard.
- Budapest, October 1st, 1998, first performance, in the
great hall of the Vigado, of the Concerto n.2 for violin and string
orchestra (1998) by Isabelle Lambelet, the Camerata Symphonica of Budapest and Tibor Varga, on the occasion of the
celebrations in Budapest of the
150th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution and of the Swiss
Confederation.
- Buenos Aires and Mar del Plata (Argentina), October
1998, first performance of the Paremboles
(1998), by the Triades Ensemble, which has commissioned the work.
- Greifswald (Germany),
June 11th, 1999, first performance during the Greifswalder
Bachwoche, of Crucifixion (1998) for mixed
choir a cappella, by the Chamber Choir of
the Fribourg University, which has commissioned the work.
- Donaueschingen, October
17th, 1999, first performance, during the Donaueschinger Musiktage,
of Ombre (Shadow – 1995/8) for full orchestra,
after Edgar Poe, Prize of the Donaueschinger Musiktage 1998, by the SWR Orchestra of Baden-Baden-Freiburg, conducted by Sylvain Cambreling.
- Volgograd, on October 31st,
1999, first performance in its full orchestra version, of the Symphony for
Chamber Orchestra, new 1st Symphony, by the Volgograd Philharmonic
Orchestra, conducted by Emmanuel Siffert.
- Bratislava, November 10th,
1999, first performance of the Trio for
violin, violoncello and piano N.2 (1995-6) by the Animae Trio (Festival
Melos-Ethos).
- Boswil, November 28th,
1999, first performance of the Duo for flute and clarinet (1999)
by members of the Wiener Klangforum.
- February 11th,
2000, simultaneous first performance of the Trio for alto saxophone, violoncello and
piano (1998-9) during concerts organized by the Association for the
development of the classical saxophone, which has ordered the work, in around
ten cities from Switzerland and abroad (like Geneva, Zurich, …).
- Montreal, July 8th,
2000, first performance by Philippe Savoy and Elie Fumeaux of the Duo for 2
saxophones (1999-2000) on the occasion of the 12th World Saxophone
Congress.
- Fribourg, July 14th,
2000, within the Sacred Music Festival of Fribourg, first performance of La plus belle des Lumières
(2000 - after the Rig Veda) by the New London Chamber Choir, conducted by
James Wood.
- August 2000, first
performance of the String trio (1997-8),
ordered by Pro Helvetia, Swiss foundation for culture, by the Zürcher
Streichtrio, during a concert tour in India and Sri Lanka.
- Sion, August 17th,
2000, within the Tibor Varga Festival, first performance of the 3rd Concerto for violin and orchestra (1999), by
Ryoko Yano, prize-winner of the interpretation of this concerto, compulsory piece
of the international violin competition Tibor Varga, and the Symphony State Orchestra of
Lithuania, conducted by Gilbert
Varga.
- Sankt-Moritz, September
2nd, 2000, within the Arts festival, and on the occasion of the 100th
anniversary of the Swiss Musicians Association, first performance of Le Cocyte (1999) for full orchestra, after Dante,
by the Symphony Orchestra of Berne, conducted by Luca Pfaff.
- Basel and region, April
2001, first performance of Lux Mundi (2000) for organ, commissioned by the European Music Month 2001, during about fifteen
services, masses and concerts of the Holy Week.
- Fribourg, September 11th,
2001, first performance of the Wind Quintet (2000) by the Eole Quintet, which has commissioned the
work.
- Delémont, November 4th,
2001, first performance by the Mittelland Ensemble, of the Septet for flute, clarinet, horn,
bassoon, violin, cello and piano (2001), commissioned by the Espace Mittelland.
- Zurich, February 27th,
2002, first performance of the Trio for flute, viola and harp (1997-9),
by the Musaïque Trio.
- Morgins, July 29th,
2002, first performance during the Flâneries Musicales of Champéry, of Soliloque (1998), by the violinist Jan
Dobrzelewski.
- Morat, October 5th,
2002, first performance of Le Nom Caché (The Hidden Name - 2001-2),
Oratorio commissioned for the Swiss
National Exposition of year 2002. The performers were Christine Buffle, Liliane
Zürcher, Hans-Jürg Rickenbacher, Michel Brodard, Marc Jaermann, the Chamber
Choir of the Fribourg University, and an instrumental ensemble, conducted by
Pascal Mayer.
- Bulle, March 22nd,
2003, first performance by the Talich Quartet of the String Quartet (1998-9).
- Helsinki, July 10th,
2003, and during a concert tour in Lithuania, first performance of the String Quintet (2001-2), by the Zurich
String Quintet, which has commissioned the work.
- Sion, August 2003, first performance of Complainte for
solo violin (2003), written at the request of Shlomo Mintz to be the compulsory
piece of the International Violin Competition of Sion.
- Bulle, September 25th, 2003, first
performance of the Quintet for flute and strings (2002-3), by Alexandre
Magnin and the Janacek Quartet.
- Lausanne, December 2nd and 3rd,
2003, first performance of the Concerto for organ and orchestra (2002-3) for the inauguration of the new great organ
of the Lausanne Cathedral. Performers were Jean-Christophe Geiser at the organ
and the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Jean Balissat. The German
first performance shall take place in April 2010 at the Gewandhaus of Leipzig,
with Michael Schönheit at the organ,
and the Gewandhaus orchestra, conducted by Riccardo Chailly.
- Odessa, during the Festival 2 days & 2
nights of modern music, and during a concert tour in Ukraine in April 2004, first performance of the Trio for clarinet, cello and piano (2003), by the Avalon Trio, which commissioned the
work.
- San José, June 6th, 2004, and during a
concert tour in the Costa Rica, first performance of Reflets for violin and percussion (2002-4)
by the Continents Percussion Ensemble (Jan Dobrzelewski and Stuart Marrs).
- Neuchâtel, July 15th, 2004, first
performance of the Swiss Dances (2003-4) by the pianists of the Duo Dominique Derron
& Pius Urech, who commissioned the work.
- Lucerne, November 2004, first performance by Laurent
Estoppey of the two Appels (saxophone version) during the ORB_IT project
of the World New Music Days 2004.
- Vevey, November 25th, 2004, first
performance by Pascal Desarzens of the Microlude (2004) for solo cello,
commissioned on the occasion of the inaugural concert of the CH.AU Company.
- Barberêche, January 30th,
2005, first performance, by the composer, of Veilleur, où en est la
nuit ? (2004-5) for organ, on the occasion of the inauguration of the
restored organ of the Church of Barberêche.
- La Tour-de-Trême, March 4th,
2005, first performance of the scenic work Les Serrures à Secret (2003-5)
on a libretto by Michel Gremaud, with the performers Michel Brodard, bass, the
Eole Quintet, a choir and an instrumental ensemble, conducted by Bernard
Maillard, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Secondary
School of the Gruyère.
- Auberive, July 5th, 2006, first
performance of Émergences (2006) for violin and accordion, by Marianne
Piketty and Pascal Contet, commission of the Musicales de l’Abbaye d’Auberive.
- Liestal, August 27th,
2006, first performance of Stimmungen (2005-6) for cello
quartet, by the cellists Anita Leuzinger, Sebastian Diezig, Adam Mital and David Pia, commission of the
International Music Days Viva Cello of Liestal.
- New York, November 4th,
2006, first performance during the 2nd Festival of Universal Sacred
Music, of Plus près de toi que tu ne l’es toi-même (2006) for vocal ensemble
(8 soloist voices and choir), by the Sangita Choir, conducted by Susanne Peck.
The commission of this work has been awarded through competition by the
Fondation for Universal Sacred Music.
- Bern-Bümpliz, November 12th,
2006, first performance on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of
the Organ Serenades of Bümpliz, of Serenata in Chiaroscuro (2005-6) for
organ, by Erwin Messmer.
- Vevey, December 3rd,
2006, first performance by the Compagnie CH.AU of the Tombeau de Ravel (2006) for
ensemble, for a project inspired by the « Tombeau de Couperin » by
Ravel.
- Basel, March 22nd,
2007, first performance during the project Cello-Wasser-Klang-Bilder of the
solo cello work Les Espaces Insoupçonnés (2006) by Albert Roman, with aquatic
images created by sounds, by Alexander Lauterwasser.
- Neuchâtel, April 23rd, 2007, first
performance of the Suite for three
flutes (2005-6) by the Ensemble Les Chemins de Traverse, which has
commissioned the work.
- Bruxelles, February 15th, 2008, first
performance of Le Sommeil de la Raison produit des monstres
(2005) after Goya, for solo arpeggione, by Nicolas Deletaille.