In the beginning there was the piano. As soon as he mastered the basics he discovered the spell of melancholy while working on a little musical piece: an etude ringing out in the style of a somber hymn. Not the dead meat smell of somberness that, according to Picabia, serious people emit. Rather, instead, the earthen gravity of an abyss dug by life itself. Everything is the result of this bedazzlement.
At 11 years old, Jean-Philippe Goude closed his eyes. When his eyelids finally re-opened, he could only see turquoise bubbles.The times had changed. The color was set by Sgt Peppers With Weidorje, he initiated a rock adventure which led him to Dick Annegarn, Odeurs, Renaud, for whom he wrote outstanding arrangements. Mistral Gagnant revives itself from his artistic signature. He spent three years wandering and then awoke.
In 1985 he decided to write his own music, the music which had been lying asleep in a corner of his childhood. He sold his synthetizers and kept only a piano. Gone was the sequined way out. Thus began a long period of looking at himself in the mirror of sincerity. De Anima appeared in 1992, a decisive step on a neo classical path. Then followed the album Ainsi de nous (1994), La Divine Nature des Choses (1996) and Rock de Chambre (2001). Just as many of his works recognized, popularized often by radio and television. Jean-Philippe Goude is the author of these unforgettable musical titles which accompanied shows such as Un Siecle d?Ecrivains (France 3), Caracteres (France 2) and again A voix nue (France Culture).
Rock de Chambre is a testimony of his taste for un-nameable combinations, like the meeting of a chamber orchestra and a rock drummer (including progression) linked to King Crimson; the album in which pop music legacy, the passion of energy and rhythm take on a special contrast.
There lies the secret. In the nostalgia of the baroque era (with all the subtle connections with song and dance) and the futurism of music which rejects neither Mahler nor David Sylvian, nor Ravel nor Penguin Cafe Orchestra. A sort of new age of scholarly music which balances on a tight rope held on one side by Lully?s heirs and on the other by the fans of Sufjan Stevens. Curious mix.
Aux Solitudes is certainly a play on words on Purcell (O solitude), but this album of classic instrumental and post-rock returns to a serious theme, that is an essential, and which does not consist of a consensual complaint on the planet?s degradation but instead, of an evocation of a major challenge. The announcement of the death of God has turned us into orphans. It?s up to us to fully pay the consequences.
Intertwinning of styles, borrowing from the past and prospective sounds characterize this new album in the color black, twinkling (like the vibrations of a painting by Pierre Soulages), whose lyricism is paradoxical for hope spurts forth on a base of desolation. Mixing the acoustic sources and electronics, with a shivering lightness and a frenetic pulsing, Jean-Philippe Goude invents this great music which abolishes frontiers. This music is to be listened to and looked at.
The singularity of L?Ensemble Jean-Philippe Goude is a magical union where a quintet of strings, piano, Martenon wave, mandolin, woodwinds and some heavenly voices, composing a cinematic universe like a film that projects dreams, doubts, nighttime moods, and the perspective of a path which is ours to draw. Here is a majestic work, profound in which it is impossible to lose oneself. It speaks as much to the fans of baroque music as to those souls moved by the minimalism of Moondog and Phil Glass, and to those who are touched by the fantasies of Erik Satie; as to those who are the most ardent admirers of Arvo Part?s diatonic music. For anyone turned on by Gabriel Faure or definitely seduced by the elegies of Robert Wyatt, Aux Solitudes is an album of contrasts which goes beyond its predecessors.
As for the text recited by Laurence Masliah and Jean-Philippe Goude, sung by Isaure Equilbey and Paulin Bundgen, our young boy of 11 years of age has just inscribed a capital work in the marble of music on the move.This is one of the works that one will listen to with the sole purpose and the sole pleasure of traversing life (without the help of the afficionados of Lully and Sufjan Stenvens) while envisioning one?s present and future on a sensitive mood. Sensitive, Jean-Philippe Goude is assuredly, like a string which would be pulled by a wounded heart and the smile of an eternal child who doesn?t know that life dies.
Au commencement etait le piano. A peine vient-il d?en posseder les rudiments que Jean-Philippe Goude decouvre, travaillant un petit morceau d?etude, les sortileges de la melancolie. Cette etude en mode de La sonne comme un hymne a la gravite. Non pas la gravite des gens serieux qui degagent, selon Picabia, une odeur de charogne. Plutot la gravite terrestre et ces gouffres que toute vie creuse. Tout resulte de cet eblouissement.
A onze ans, Jean-Philippe Goude ferme les yeux. Lorsque ses paupieres s?ecartent enfin, il ne voit que des bulles turquoise. Les temps ont vire. La couleur est donnee par Sgt Peppers. Avec Weidorje, il inaugure un rock aventureux qui le mene a Dick Annegarn, Odeurs, Renaud pour lesquels il ecrira des arrangements marquants. Mistral gagnant releve de sa signature artistique. Un moment d?egarement qui dure trois ans. Puis c?est l?eveil.
En 1985, il decide d?ecrire sa musique, celle qui etait restee en sommeil dans un coin de l?enfance. Il vend ses synthetiseurs et ne conserve qu?un piano. Exit les echappatoires a paillettes. Debut d?une longue periode de face-a-face sans autre miroir que la sincerite. De Anima parait en 1992, une etape decisive sur un chemin aux apparences neo-classiques. Suivent les albums Ainsi de nous (1994), La Divine nature des choses (1996) et Rock de chambre (2001). Autant d?oeuvres reconnues, popularisees souvent par la radio et la television. Jean-Philippe Goude est l?auteur de ces generiques musicaux inoubliables qui coincident avec des emissions telles qu?Un siecle d?ecrivains (France 3), Caracteres (France 2) ou encore A voix nue (France Culture).
Rock de chambre qui temoigne d?un gout vif pour les alliances antinomiques, comme la reunion d?un orchestre de chambre et d?un batteur de rock (y compris progressif) relie a King Crimson, est l?album dans lequel l?heritage pop, la passion de l?energie et du rythme prennent un relief particulier.
La se niche le secret. Dans la nostalgie de l?age baroque (avec ce que cet age sous-entend de connexions avec la chanson et la danse) et le futurisme d?une musique qui ne rejette ni Mahler ni David Sylvian, ni Ravel ni Penguin Cafe Orchestra. Une sorte de nouvel age de la musique savante qui s?equilibrerait sur un fil tenu d?un cote par les heritiers de Lully et de l?autre par des fans de Sufjan Stevens. Curieux melange.
Aux Solitudes est bien un jeu de mot sur Purcell (O Solitude) mais cet album a l?instrumentarium classique et post-rock renvoie a un sujet grave, c?est-a-dire essentiel, et qui ne consiste pas en une plainte consensuelle sur la terrible degradation de la Planete mais en une evocation d?un defi majeur. L?annonce de la mort de Dieu nous a rendu a l?etat d?orphelins. A nous d?en assumer pleinement les consequences. Imbrication des styles, emprunt au passe et prospective sonore caracterisent ce nouvel album a la couleur noire etincelante (comme en peinture les vibrations de Pierre Soulages), au lyrisme paradoxal, car l?esperance jaillit sur un fond de desolation. Melant les sources acoustiques et electroniques, legerete fremissante et pulsation frenetique, Jean-Philippe Goude invente cette grande musique a entendre et a voir qui fait disparaitre les cloisons. Un enchantement.
La singularite de la musique de Jean-Philippe Goude est une union magique ou s?entretressent quintette a cordes, piano et onde Martenot, mandoline, vents et quelques voix celestes composant un univers cinematique tel un film ou se projetteraient des reves et des doutes, nos abimes de nuit et la perspective du chemin qu?il nous appartient de tracer. Voici une oeuvre majestueuse, profonde, dans laquelle il est impossible de se perdre. Elle parle autant aux amateurs de musique baroque qu?aux ames emues par le minimalisme de Moondog ou de Phil Glass, a ceux que touchent les fantaisies d?Erik Satie qu?aux inconditionnels des textures diatoniques d?Arvo Part. Que l?on soit comble par Gabriel Faure ou definitivement seduit par les elegies de Robert Wyatt, on trouvera dans les compositions de Jean-Philippe Goude une musique de partage au-dela des clivages anciens.
