“Under the Skin”, behind the scenes of Rebecca Saunders’ Triptych

News from Rebecca Saunders

Scarfor fifteen soloists and conductor
Skinfor soprano and thirteen instruments
Skull for fourteen instruments and conductor (French creation)

For the first time, the three pieces of the triptych Skin/Scar/Skull by Rebecca Saunders are brought together within the same program. Directed by Pierre Bleuse, the Ensemble intercontemporain accompanies Juliet Fraser, soprano specialist of the composer.
For around ten years, the British composer based in Berlin has musically explored the lexical fields of the body, the voice, the skin. Opened by Skin (2016), followed by Scar (2019), closed by Skull (2023), the triptych presented here in its entirety was born from the deep fascination that Saunders has for “the exploration of the physical and carnal quality of sound”, as well as for “the physical and carnal impact that music can exert on the listener. In fact, the scar ( Scar ) is registered on the surface of the skin ( Skin ), like the memory of the trauma of the injury ( Wound was created in 2022). As for the skull ( Skull ), it is the head without its fleshly envelope, and it is the emptiness of the spirit which has left the body. (presentation by the Philharmonie de Paris)