LDV122

23 TRIO METRAL What would you say are the elements that characterise French musical style in the period from the Franco-Prussian War until the middle of the twentieth century, even if the aesthetics, as your album shows, can sometimes be very diverse? Laure-Hélène Michel: You can already see those elements in the distinction that appears between German and French in the construction of the phrase, whether literary or musical. Where do you place the tonic accents? Where are the verbs? When I was studying in Salzburg, Clemens Hagen of the Hagen Quartet explained to me the significance of this correspondence between the word and the musical note, both of which are intimately linked to the cast of mind of a culture. In that case, how would you define the sound of your ensemble? Nathan Mierdl: Our approach is above all spontaneous, and the search for a sound is only the result of what we produce. We are first and foremost at the service of the composer’s work and our sonic identity will constantly be redefined over time. Laure-Hélène Michel: What we look for in our interpretations is a certain clarity, an in-depth exploration of the timbres, achieved by working on vibration and intonation. The notions of clarity and light perfectly define the universe of French music.