Jean-Baptiste Robin: Time Circles, Orchestral & Chamber Music
Jean-Baptiste Robin (1976) is regarded as one of the most prominent composers and organists of today. He has composed over fifty works ranging from those for solo instruments to symphony orchestra and his works have been performed by various ensembles such as the Orchestre National de France, l'Ensemble intercontemporain, L’Orchestre national d’Auvergne, l’Orchestre des Pays de Savoie, l’Orchestre Régional de Normandie, the Maîtrise de Notre-Dame de Paris, the Maîtrise de Radio France under the batons of conductors Pierre Boulez, Marin Alsop, Laurent Petitgirard, Roberto Forés Veres, Jean Deroyer. His recordings have been consistently praised by music critics and have won numerous prizes in France and England, including several Diapason d’Or, the Editor’s Choice by Gramophone, the Charles Cros Academy and the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik Vierteljahresliste. One main theme runs through Jean-Baptiste Robin's work, a theme which gives its generic name to the present CD (Time Circles) and which only the language of sound is capable of translating: that of time which moves inexorably forward, insensibly modifying beings and things and leading to death and nothingness. The titles: The Hands of Time, for organ, L'Horloge, for baritone and piano, Tic-Tac for soprano and piano (three works from 2018), La lame des heures, for orchestra, Click Time, for saxophone, Les rouages du temps, for flute, cello and organ, #Tictac, for violin and piano (four works from 2019), La destruction du temps, for organ and Zénith, for string orchestra and two oboes (both from 2020). The present recording focuses on the recent output of Jean-Baptiste Robin (2018/2020). Performed by Orchestre National de France and Orchestre des Pays de Savoie (conductors: Marin Alsop · Nicolas Chalvin · Jean Deroyer), Sarah Nemtanu (violin), François Salque, Victor Julien-Laferrière (cello), Dalphine Haidan (mezzo-soprano) and Romain Descharmes (piano).