Official release date: 30 September 2016

Aloÿs Fornerod (1890-1965)
A Swiss-French composer in search of identity

A musician from the French-speaking part of Switzerland approaches composition with qualms unknown to the French or Italians. His origins introduce a sterilising slip of a doubt into his mind. Should he find inspiration in the works of the great French composers? Or should he aim for some kind of fusion between Latin and Germanic art?

Most of the time, he hesitates, and his hesitation, nurtured by common prejudice, takes him from Paris to Berlin, from Berlin to Munich, from Munich to Vienna. He fills his mind, but the culture he acquires, rather than exciting him into production, causes him to freeze in the posture of a knowledgeable but helpless listener.

Indeed, introducing someone to a Universal exhibition will not turn him into an art designer. And our musician will have seen it all, but he will not have been taught the very essence, i.e. knowing one’s limits: he will have a wide understanding of things, but will not know how to write.

Aloÿs Fornerod

Chœur de l'HEMU:
Jean-Pierre Chollet (direction), Olga Zhukova (organ), Jennifer Pellagaud (soprano), Cyril Julien (organ)

Orchestre de l'HEMU:
Emmanuel Siffert (direction)