FRANÇOIS LUKAWECKI

by François Lukawecki

1. L’aquarelle – SATB with piano – CP 2394 – duration 2:00
2. Saules – SATB with piano – CP 2403 – duration 2:00
3. EN PLEIN AIR – (both movements) – CP 2404 – duration 4:00

These simple “choral watercolours” capture the evocative images set in impressionist poems by Québécois poet Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau.  Compositionally, I tried to create “aquarelle” effects by using impressionistic word-painting, very open chords for transparency, a blurry accompaniment, minimal harmonic rhythms, and a pastoral mood.

by François Lukawecki

SATB a cappella – CP 2590 – duration: 4:45

Mantra is a setting of Stéphane Mallarmé’s Soupir. It is an exploration of the wandering mind during meditation. The original poem unfolds as a single run-on sentence across eight lines, its central thought repeatedly interrupted by descriptive tangents. In Mantra, the text is reworked to evoke an attempt at meditation, as a recurring mantra is continually disrupted by intrusive thoughts and poetic side journeys. With each return, the mantra grows longer, until it finally delivers its complete message: an affirmation of the soul’s beauty. The work’s neo-Impressionist musical language pays homage to Mallarmé’s profound influence on French music—an influence so compelling that Soupir became the subject of a friendly rivalry between Debussy and Ravel, who composed their respective settings almost simultaneously in 1913.