Particularly notable among his many collaborations is his long-standing partnership with choreographer Marie Chouinard, with whom he has worked since 1996 in composing the music for a great many of her works.[12][13] In 2023, an entire edition of the journal Circuit, musiques contemporaines was dedicated to the subject of their collaborative work.[14] The composer has also written music for the original soundtracks of the films The Fall of the American Empire (French: La chute de l’empire américain) (2018)[15] and Denys Arcand’s Testament(2023).[16]
Dufort is professor of composition at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal[17] and artistic director of the broadcasting company Akousma,[18] which hosts the annual Festival international des musiques numériques immersives in Montreal. In 2018, he was awarded the Québec Opus prize for artistic director of the year.[19]
Early Works (1900-2000)
Dufort's gravitation towards electroacoustic music, including his marked interest in mixed music and multimedia,[20] began in the initial stages of his compositional development.
Meanwhile, he developed an aesthetic that was largely focused on provoking emotional responses in the listener. This early aesthetic, which shaped his music over the first decade of his career, translated into an evocative musical language that conveys a sense of unrest through intense musical moments. Characteristic examples from this period include acousmatic works Pointe-aux-Trembles(1996), Transit(1998) and Zénith(1999), as well as mixed music Lucie(1998) and Consomption(1999). The emotive idiom explored in these compositions reaches its pinnacle in Décap(2000), a work for audio fixed media that evokes the horror and gravity of human conflict in the world.[21]
Shift to Organicism (2000-2010)
The works of the following decade lend themselves to a more abstract mode of expression, which for Dufort was inspired by the various complex systems found in nature. This marks the composer's shift to oganicism,[22] which he debuted in his album of fixed media works Matériaux composés (2008, empreintes DIGITALes), especially Grain de sable(2004-2005) and the cycle Matério(2006-2007). As the composer has stated in reference to the latter work, "this cycle marks the beginning of an abstract organicist approach, which represents a change of direction compared to my previous works that were more built around dramatic affects [...] the Matério cycle is a first attempt to extract organizational and musical structures from the emergent and dynamic properties of sound material[23].”
Recent Work (2010-)
Dufort's work has continued to be deeply influenced by nature, which tends to reflect in a broad sense—as in the surface-level portrayal of the Laurentides' forests in Monts Valin(2022)[24]—in addition to the deliberate way the music is organized at a deeper and more intricate, even microscopic, level, according to nature's own inherent systems. In the composer's words, this design of “macroscopic views of micro-organisms and the natural, chaotic organization of elements[6]” ultimately creates “music that becomes very active, nervous, mineral, almost chemical[25].”
The cycle Into the Forest(2021, Empreintes DIGITALes) is one large-scale example of a more recent nature-inspired work that conveys, as its title suggests, a submersion into the forest atmosphere. As the composer commented around the time of its premiere, this work was created around “the idea of a grand structure [...] that organizes life in the forest[25].” Further examples of his more recent nature-inspired works include visual music bjvfewo(2018)[26] and the series of miniatures Argile(2022),[27]Billot(2024),[28]Femme Forêt(2024),[29]Fleuve Rive(2023)[30] and Planétarium(2024).[31]
Processing
Live processing is a frequent feature in Dufort's earlier mixed music compositions, as in Accident(2001), Spiel(2001), Déflagration(2002), Intonarumori(2002), and Manu militari(2003). The composer's venture deeper into organicism, however, eventually prompted him to abandon this feature in favor of preserving the natural timbres of acoustic instruments. Les corpuscules agglutinés(2013) marks the start of this shift, where the only adjustment made to the instruments’ natural sound production is high-fidelity amplification used to enhance the quality of the acoustic spectrum.[32]
Visual Music
Dufort's interest in creating visual music has been influenced by the philosophies of Henri Bergson as well as his collaborative experiences with Marie Chouinard. In works such as Épochè(2008), the composer explores direct interactions between sound and visuals, where digitally generated images respond to the movement of sound in real time. This intertwining of sound and image is designed to create a kinesthetic effect in the listener, stimulating the body over the mind. Further examples of such works include mixed audiovisual works like Yutiröp(2011) and Quatre histoires néguentropiques(2011)[33][34][35][36] for string quartet, fixed media, 3d visual synthesis and dance.
Influences
Dufort describes his own aesthetic as “maximalist[37],” further noting that it draws from the systems approach[38] in its conception and treatment of individual sound objects as part of a complex whole. The possibilities offered by digital technology assist in the application of this approach, allowing the composer to analyze and work with sound in ultra-fine detail.[6] Further influences he cites include the writings and music of Horacio Vaggione,[20] as well as the teachings from his mentor, Francis Dhomont.[39]
Pointe-aux-Trembles, for stereo, 14:26. Final version created in 1998
1998
Étude poignante. Stage music for choreography by Marie Chouinard (solo for Carol Prieur)
Humanitas. Stage music for choreography by Marie Chouinard (solo for Carol Prieur)
Lucie, for Farfisa organ, flute, processing and audio fixed media, 17:00
Transit, for stereo, 12:00
1999
Consomption, for soprano, processing and audio fixed media, 16:00
Zénith, for stereo, 14:31
2000
Décap, for stereo, 24:07
Le cri du monde, 60:00. Stage music for choreography by Marie Chouinard for 9performers
Silo mon amour, for soprano, processing and visual support, 25:00. Live performance
Symphonie du millénaire, for 333musicians, 2000carillonneurs, 15bell towers, pipe organ, carillon of 56bells, and 2fire trucks, 90:00. Collaborative work with Serge Arcuri, Walter Boudreau, Vincent Collard, Yves Daoust, Alain Dauphinais, André Duchesne, Louis Dufort, Sean Ferguson, Michel Gonneville, André Hamel, Alain Lalonde, Estelle Lemire, Jean Lesage, Luc Marcel, Marie Pelletier, John Rea, Anthony Rozankovic, Gilles Tremblay. Arrangement by Denys Bouliane
2001
Accident, for soprano saxophone and processing, 12:00
Étude no1, for interactive system, 22:00. Stage music for choreography by Marie Chouinard (solo for Lucie Mongrain)
Spiel, for flute and processing, 16:00
2002
Déflagration, for chamber orchestra and processing, 16:00
La femme des sables, 60:00. Stage music for choreography by Jocelyne Montpetit
2003
Cantique no1, for video, 15:00. Videomusic. Collaborative work with Marie Chouinard
Cantique no 2, for video, 20:00. Videomusic. Collaborative work with Marie Chouinard
Chorale, 40:00. Stage music for choreography by Marie Chouinard for 10performers
L’Orchestre de granulation, 32:00. Collaborative work with Cal Crawford, Érick d’Orion, Aimé Dontigny, Philémon Girouard, Julie Rousse and David Turgeon
Les cerisiers, 50:00. Stage music for choreography by Jocelyne Montpetit
Manu militari, for saxophone quartet and processing, 18:00
Sound Object, for video, 10:00. Videomusic
Trip à six, for 6 pianos, 12:00
2004
Cantique no3. Participatory installation video. Collaborative work with Marie Chouinard
Dans le silence, for audio fixed media, 55:00. Stage music for dance work Dans le silence des bambous by Jocelyne Montpetit
Ephem, for audio fixed media, 15:00
2004-2005
Grain de sable, for 4.1-channel surround, 14:35
2005
bODY_rEMIX/les_vARIATIONS_gOLDBERG, 110:00. Stage music for choreography by Marie Chouinard (ballet in two acts for 10performers)
Hi_Res, for 5.1-channel surround, 13:37
Hyper Lucidity, for MIDI piano (Yamaha Disklavier) and processing, 15:00
L’archange, for 3 voices, theater actor and audio fixed media, 52:31. Opera. Libretto by Alexis Nouss
Mouvements, 64 dessins, un poème, une postface par Henri Michaux, Éditions Gallimard, 1951, 20:00. Stage music for choreography by Marie Chouinard (solo for Carol Prieur)
2006
Flesh, for video, 5:00. Videomusic
Matério_*, for 4.1-channel surround, 8:00
Matério_**, for 4.1-channel surround, 9:00
Miniatures, for string quartet and processing, 15:00
Particules, for amplified piano, processing and video, 10:00
2006-2007
MiniatureII, for string quartet and processing, 15:00
2007
Enfant d’obus, for 4.1-channel surround, 10:02
Gen_3, for 4.1-channel surround, 8:56
Matério_***, for 4.1-channel surround, 9:48
ParticulesII, for video over 10 screens, 5:00. Videomusic
Plastide, for 8 flutes and processing, 12:00
2008
Épochè, for video, 10:00. Videomusic
Orphée et Eurydice. Stage music for choreography by Marie Chouinard for 10 performers
2008-2012
Julie Sits Waiting, for stereo, 67:00. Opera. Libretto by Tom Walmsley
2009
gloires du matin:)-(:. Stage music for solo dance by Marie Chouinard
Nervures, for stereo, 12:48
ParticulesIII, for piano, processing and video
Pulsacion, for percussion, audio fixed media and video, 9:00
2010
Le Nombre d’or (live). Stage music for choreography by Marie Chouinard for 10performers
ParticulesIV, for piano, processing and video, 5:49
Rhizome, for flute, processing and video, 14:49
2011
Henri Michaux: Mouvements. Stage music for choreography by Marie Chouinard for 10performers
La Nuit ensoleillée. Performance event. Stage music for choreography by Marie Chouinard for 18performers
Paradisi Gloria. Photographic installation. Collaborative work with Marie Chouinard
Quatre histoires néguentropiques, for string quartet, audio fixed media, video and dance, 52:00
Systemic Shock, for video, 5:00. Videomusic
Yutiröp, for percussion and video, 14:49
2012
Concatenare, for video. Videomusic
Grain de lumièreI, for audio fixed media, 2:59
Grain de lumièreII, for audio fixed media, 2:50
In Museum. Participatory performance. Stage music for solo dance by Marie Chouinard
2013
Corps célestes. Virtual immersive looped performance for dome. Collaborative work with Marie Chouinard
2013-2014
Les corpuscules agglutinés, for spatialized musicians, electronic percussion and multi-channel surround
2014
Study no1, for audio fixed media, 7:00
Study no2, 7:00
2015
Anne et Samuel. Stage music for choreography by Marie Chouinard (duo)
Cantique. Application for iPad and iPhone. In collaboration with Marie Chouinard
French Suite Remix, for audio fixed media
Spirale no1, for electric guitar, processing, audio fixed media and video, 12:00
Soft virtuosity, still humid, on the edge. Stage music for choreography by Marie Chouinard for 10performers
2016
ConcatenareIV, for video. Videomusic
Inner Resources. Stage music for choreography by Marie Chouinard (ballet for 8dancers)
Jérôme Bosch: Le Jardin des délices. Stage music for choreography by Marie Chouinard for 10performers
Tombeau de Claudio Monteverdi, for audio fixed media, 14:56
2016-2017
I Am, You Are, We Are Plastic, for flute, processing and video
2017
Cy Twombly Somehow. Stage music for choreography by Marie Chouinard (ballet for 13performers)
2017-2018
bjvfewo, for video, 4:30. Videomusic
2018
Duo Mains (Opéra Dogma, 2001-2018). Collaborative work with Marie Chouinard (duo for live-broadcast film)
Radicale Vitalité. Stage music for choreography by Marie Chouinard for 10performers (work composed of solos, duos, and group pieces, for 10 performers)
Visages (Opéra Dogma, 2001-2018). Collaborative work with Marie Chouinard (solo for live-broadcast film)
2019
En conversation. Stage music for choreography by Marie Chouinard (duo)
2020
Jardin de sculptures éphémères. Live broadcast performance. Stage music for choreography by Marie Chouinard for 2dancers
Le Lac des cygnes: Le chant. Stage music for choreography by Marie Chouinard for 9dancers
Sur la lame, for tam-tam and audio fixed media, 7:00. Stage music for choreography by Marie Chouinard
2020-2021
Into the Forest, for audio fixed media, 39:40. Cycle
Volume, for multichannel surround, 19:45
2021
Monts Valin, for multichannel surround, 11:36
2023
«M», acousmatic, 58:00. Film score for choreography by Marie Chouinard for 12performers
2024
Argile (2022), 00:31; Billot (2024), 00:50; Femme Forêt (2024), 00:15; Fleuve Rive (2023), 04:03; Planétarium (2024), 0:29. Series of miniatures
Collaborative Works with the Marie Chouinard company
↑ Conservatoire de musique et d’art dramatique du Québec. "Louis Dufort". Conservatoire de musique et d’art dramatique du Québec. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
↑ Akousma. "The team". Akousma. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
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