L'esprit du Nord (Spirit of the North)

L’esprit du Nord, for string quartet, was inspired by and is infused with French-Canadian folk song. Each of the three movements uses a folk song as its basis. The first movement, Chanson de Lisette, is a playful theme and variations in which the folk song theme is gradually transformed into a contemporary musical language. The second movement, Cantique [Canticle], contains two religious folk tunes: a ‘Passion’ song and a tune entitled Les Pèlerins. An optional 1940s field recording may be used, combined with the live string quartet at the opening and end of the movement. The third movement, Fiddle Dance, was inspired by the French-Canadian fiddling tradition. Here again, an optional 1940s field recording (a short excerpt with harmonica and spoons) may be used with the live string quartet at the beginning of the movement. L’esprit du Nord was written for the Apollo Chamber Players as part of their 20x2020 Project. Pierre Jalbert