Nicolas Vérin Explained

Nicolas Vérin
Birth Date:	21 June 1958
Birth Place:	Saint-Omer, Pas-de-Calais, France
Genre:	Contemporary classical
Occupation:	Composer
Years Active:	1981–present
Website:	nicolasverin.com

Nicolas Vérin (born 21 June 1958) is a French composer and professor of music. His many influences, from jazz to electronics, from American to French music, give him an unusual style, apart from the main trends of French contemporary music, combining energy and subtleness.^{[1] [2]}

While rooted in electroacoustic music and its approach based on composing with sounds rather than notes, he also wrote many instrumental pieces and specialized particularly in music mixing live performers and electronics, whether fixed sound or live processing.^[3] At the basis of his work are the musical gesture and the life of sound and its morphology.^[4] An improviser himself, his works often leave a creative space for performers, and he has collaborated on many occasions with famous improvisers.

Vérin received commissions from the French Ministry of Culture, Radio France, INA-GRM, Studios, Festivals and Conservatories. He was composer in residence in the Midi-Pyrénées region and was awarded the prize Villa Médicis hors les murs. His music, published by Éditions Jobert and Éditions François Dhalmann, has been performed and broadcast worldwide.

Life and work

Beginnings

Vérin was born 21 June 1958 in Saint-Omer, France. After initial studies with private professors of piano, at the Martenot School and the Brest Conservatory, he obtained his Diplôme de fin d'études from the Conservatoire National de Région de Saint-Maur in piano, studies in chamber music, harmony. At age 12 he started guitar and a year later founds and leads a pop music group. This was to be followed by jazz piano, which he learned mostly on his own, but also with teachers (Matias Pizarro, Jimmy Cheatham, François Couturier).

After his baccalauréat, he followed a summer workshop in Cordes, near Toulouse, by INA-GRM, during which he decided to become an electroacoustic composer. He then studied music and science at the Universities of Paris VI–Jussieu, Brest and Paris VIII–Vincennes, where he obtained a licence de musique (B.A.). During this time, he organized with a fellow student the first electroacoustic music concert in the city of Brest.^{[5] [6]} He later attended musical academies Acanthes (Aix-en-Provence 1982), and Darmstädter Ferienkurse (1992).^[7]

Thereafter, he entered the electroacoustic music composition class of Pierre Schaeffer and Guy Reibel at Paris Conservatory where he got his degree in 1979. Vérin went on to study 5 years at the University of California, San Diego, where he obtained a Master of Arts (1982)^[8] and a PhD (1986)^[9] in composition and computer music. His main professors there were Roger Reynolds, Jean-Charles François, Joji Yuasa, Robert Erickson, F. Richard Moore, Bernard Rands, Gordon Mumma, Julio Estrada.^[10]

Main career

Upon returning to France, Vérin collaborated as musical assistant with Pierre Henry, for studio work, recording original sounds, processing sounds, and concert performances in major Festivals in France and Germany. The pioneer of musique concrète invited him in his studio for a composition in 1988. Vérin is considered one of only two disciples of Pierre Henry.^{[11] [12]} and has performed his music in many occasions.^{[13] [14]}

In 1988, he was chosen by Jean-Claude Éloy to work at CIAMI (Centre d'informatique appliquée à la musique et l'image, Rueil-Malmaison) in charge of the MIDI studio and the cmusic/CARL environment.

In 1989 he joined the creation department at IRCAM, where he works as a tutor. This involved coordinating the productions of invited composers (Michael Jarrell,^[15] Michaël Levinas,^{[16] [17]} Frédéric Durieux, Hans-Peter Kunz) and teaching several courses of computer music (for the doctorate program of École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales and IRCAM's Computer Music Curriculum) as well as participating in the beta-testing of Miller Puckette's Max programming language.^[18]

In 1990, Vérin founded the association Ligys, which becomes a studio coop with composers Christine Groult and Jacqueline Ozanne, active in Paris for productions and a few concerts.^[19] After the dissolution of Ligys, he founds in 2007 the association Impulsion.

In 1992 Vérin was appointed Professor of Electroacoustic music at the Conservatoire National de Région of Chalon sur Sâone (Burgundy), where he is tenured in 1998. From 2002 to the present, he is Professor of Composition and Electroacoustic Music at École nationale de musique et de danse d'Evry (Essonne).

From 1992 to 1995, he is composer-in-residence in the Midi-Pyrénées Region. This includes a residence at LIMCA (Lutherie Informatique et Musique Contemporaine à Auch), where he realizes two compositions.^{[20] [21]} He is appointed Musical Director for two editions of the Auch Danse/Musique Contemporaines Festival (in Gascony), involving the programming of 8 concerts, some in relation to dance companies. The residence also included studio work at GMEA (Groupe de Musique Electroacoustique d'Albi-Tarn), resulting in an electronic music piece, In vino musica,^[22] given daily for the show Musique des Vignes from October through November 1992 at the Centre Culturel de l'Albigeois.^[23]

In 2003–2004, Vérin is invited at IRCAM to do a new version of his work 11 avenue du Midi on the WFS system (sonic holography), installation presented at Nicéphore Days in Chalon 2004 (France), at IRCAM's Festival Résonance 2004^[24] and in Leipzig in 2005.

As performer

Besides his compositional work, Vérin has also performed electronic music and improvisation.^{[25] [26] [27]} He founded Duo Alchemia with Julien Feltrin (recorder), touring in France. With the improvised music trio DSV (: flutes, Louis Sclavis: clarinets, Nicolas Vérin: electronics) he performed in France^[28] (Festival Agora in 2002^[29]), in Russia and United States.^{[30] [31] [32]} Since the untimely death of Cécile Daroux, the group remains as a duo and renamed itself Ensemble Cécile. He performed with Vinko Globokar as electronic musician in the latter's magnum opus Laboratorium, in concerts at UC San Diego, Witten, and Cologne.

Vérin appears also as improviser or electronic musician in several CDs (Xe symphonie by Pierre Henry, Préfixes by Michaël Levinas, Congruences by Michael Jarrell, Improvisations préparées with Mirtha Pozzi and Pablo Cueco) and performed with saxophonist Daniel Kientzy, actor Jean-Louis Jacopin, flutist James Newton, saxophonist Steve Coleman, pianist Anne-Marie Fijal.^[33] He has performed the electronic part of mixed and acousmatic pieces by Pierre Henry^[34] and many others.^{[35] [36]} As a pianist, Vérin was accompanist of choirs and singers, played in jazz groups (with François Moutin and Louis Moutin, Philippe Botta and others).

Awards

Prizes

• Villa Medicis Hors les Murs (Institut Français, CulturesFrance, 2001 and 2010)^[37]
• Concours Luc Ferrari – Hörspiel 2, by and Radio France (1997)^[38]
• CEDS (New London, Connecticut, 1991)
• selections in many competitions including Sond'Arte (Lisbon 2009),^[39] Bourges (1998, 1997, 1996, 1994, 1990), Olympia (Athens, 1989),^[40] Leonie D. Rothschild (USA), etc.

Commissions

• French Ministry of Culture (1992, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2003)^[41]
• INA-GRM (1989, 1993, 2004, 2009)^{[42] [43]}
• Radio France (1991, 1996, 2004, 2012)
• Festivals (Dijon in 1996 and 2001,^[44] Perpignan 1995, Nancy 1999)
• Studios (Césaré Reims 2012, Centre Henri Pousseur (CRFMW) Liège 2009,^[45] GMEA 1991, GMVL 1990)
• Conservatories (Bagnolet 2007, CEFEDEM Dijon 2006, Evry 2003...)

Works

Vérin's catalog consists of more than 60 works, ranging from solo instrument to symphonic orchestra, through electronic music (fixed sounds or live), stage music for theatre, dance. Several of his pieces are published by Éditions Jobert-Lemoine (Paris) and Éditions François Dhalmann (Strasbourg).

Main compositions

• Opus 4 Solo violin piece I (7' – 1981)^[46]
• Opus 7 Pleine Lune (26' – 1982) for electronics (four tracks) and projected images (by Dominique Piollet and Nicolas Vérin).
• Opus 8 Solo violin piece II (6' – 1983)
• Opus 10c Solo III (7' – 1998)
• Opus 12 Petites variations pour piano (10' – 1985–2004)
• Opus 13 Une nouvelle demeure pour Picasso (20', 1985) music for the documentary film by Edmond Agabra^[47]
• Opus 14 Cirios (12' – 1986) for 14 instruments (picc, fl, cl/b. cl. b, t. sax, trpt, 2 trb, el. guit, synth, perc, vn, viola, vc. and cb.)
• Opus 15 La lueur et la fumée (1 hour – 1986–1993) Musical theatre for actor, synthesizer and 10 tracks to be mixed live on texts adapted from Charles Baudelaire's Le Spleen de Paris
• Opus 16 Suite pour Minnie (18' – 1986) for wind ensemble (20 musicians)
• Opus 17 Retornelo (8' – 1987) for wind quintet
• Opus 18 Ombres chinoises (18' – 1988) for non-professional instrumental ensemble (2/2/0/0 1/0/0 4/4/3/2/1 or more)
• Opus 19 Miroirs Déformants (11') for oboe and electronics (four tracks)
• Opus 20 Péripéties (14'30 – 1989 – rev. 1995) for four flutes
• Opus 21 Tulipes aquatiques (5' – 1990) music for the art film by Unglee^[48]
• Opus 22 Rhapsodie parisienne (28' – 1990) radiophonic piece (two-track tape) with Jean Dautremay, voice, Jean Pierlot, percussion, Nicolas Vérin, synthesizer.
• Opus 23 Projections obliques (23' – 1990–1991) for solo flute and clarinet, live electronics and ensemble (Midi keyboard, tpt, trb, perc., vn, cb)
• Opus 24 Métalmorphose (16' – 1990) for percussion and electronics^[49]
• Opus 25b De très près ou de très loin... (9'45 – 2001) for fixed sounds
• Opus 26a Chassé-croisé Ia (8' – 1991) for clarinet (+ bass cl.) and viola + adaptations Ib for clarinet (+ bass cl.) and cello and Ic for clarinet (+ basset horn) and viola^{[50] [51]}
• Opus 27 In vino musica (19' – 1992) electronics (six tracks) with optional wine-tasting installation^[52]
• Opus 29 Instabile (17' – 1992, rev. 1996) for ensemble (fl, oboe, cl/b. clar, F horn, 2 perc., pno/el. kbd., vn, vc) and live electronics^{[53] [54]}
• Opus 32a Di un temporale... (22' – 1994) for orchestra (2 fl (+ picc + alto fl), 2 oboe (+ E.H.), 2 cl (+ b. cl.), 1 bn, 1 cbn, 2 F. H., 2 tpt, 1 tbn, 1 tuba, 2 perc, 1 hrp, strings (min. 6/6/4/4/3) and electronics
• Opus 32b Temporale che non c'è (17'30) for orchestra (2 fl (+ picc + alto fl), 2 oboe (+ E.H.), 2 cl (+ b. cl.), 1 bn, 1 cbn, 2 F. H., 2 tpt, 1 tbn, 1 tuba, 2 perc, 1 hrp, strings (min. 8/6/4/4/3)
• Opus 33 Suite en mouvement (12' – 1995) 3 pieces for clarinets and electronics, for students 1st to 3rd cycle
• Opus 34 11, avenue du Midi (13' – 1995) radiophonic piece
• Opus 35 una rosa... una rueda... (23' – 1995) for speaker, ensemble (fl, 2 cl, sax, tpt, tb, perc) and electronics, on Federico Garcia Lorca's poem "Oda a Salvador Dali"
• Opus 36a Mariposa clavada que medita su vuelo (17' – 1996) for flute and electronics (four tracks)^[55]
• Opus 36b Thyrcis (9'50 – 2002) for solo flute
• Opus 38 Chassé-croisé II (8' – 1997) for violin and piano^[56]
• Opus 39a Khamsin (20' – 1997) for drum kit and electronics^[57]
• Opus 39b Samoûm (17' – 1997) electronics^[58]
• Opus 40 Chassé-croisé III (8' – 1998) for two violins^[59]
• Opus 42 Bora (19' – 1999) for saxophone (soprano and barytone) and electronics
• Opus 44 Chinook (18' −1999) for electric guitar and electronics
• Opus 45 P'hioni (20' – 2000) for contrabass and electronics
• Opus 47 Solid Noid (25' – 1992–2005) for Midi piano, Disklavier and live electronics
• Opus 48 Vents du Monde (28' – 1999–2003) for saxophone, electric guitar, contrabass, drums and live electronics
• Opus 49 Parties diverses (15' – 2002–2004) concerto for Ondes Martenot and orchestra (strings + 2 horns)
• Opus 50 Chassé-croisé IV (10' – 2004) for flute and percussion (vibraphone and 6 gongs)^[60]
• Opus 51 Interleaved tracks (15' – 2004) for bass clarinet and live electronics^[61]
• Opus 52 Jardín de acero (26' – 2007) for soprano, clarinet (also Eb and bass), percussion, piano, violin and cello
• Opus 53 Impulsions (15' – 2008) 3 pedagogical pieces for strings and electronics, for students 1st to 3rd cycle
• Opus 54 Trois études d'espace (19'30 – 2009) electronics (eight tracks)
• Opus 55 Now and Then and Now (10'20 – 2012) for recorder flute (Paetzold contrabass, tenor and soprano) and live electronics
• Opus 56 Étoile filante (2' – 2011) for Bb clarinet, written in memory of Cécile Daroux
• Opus 57 HystéRAProtéron (3'36 – 2012) for contrabass clarinet and electronics

Recordings

• Solo IV. OuSonMuPo – Disque Premier. Art3mix 0101. CD. 2011.
• https://boutique.ina.fr/cd/PDTINA000261 Miroirs déformants, Métalmorphose, Mariposa clavada que medita su vuelo, P'hioni. Nicolas Vérin – Four works for soloists and electronics. INA-GRM 475122. CD. 2005.^[62]
• http://www.oldkingcole.biz/okcd/cc/ Solo Violin Piece II, Espejito, Chassé-Croisé Ic, Petites Variations pour Piano, Thyrcis, Chassé-Croisé II, Péripéties. Chassés-croisés, Duos and solos by Nicolas Vérin. NVCD01. CD. 2003. re-issued on cdbaby https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/nicolasverin2
• Chassé-croisé III. Contemporary Violin duets, by János Négyesy and Païvikki Nykter. AuCourant Records 0010-1. CD. 2000.
• Oui. Arrêts fréquents. Vandœuvre 9813. CD. 1998.^[63]
• Solo III. Paysaginaire Concrètement. Paysaginaire PAYSA9810. CD. 1998.
• Solo Violin Piece I. Dedications to János Négyesy. Neuma 450-95. CD. 1995.
• 11, avenue du Midi. Hörspiele 2. Radio-France/. CD. 1995.
• In vino musica. Musique des vignes. GMEA MP01. CD. 1992.

Selected writings

• "Cécile Daroux : le témoignage de Nicolas Vérin". Tempo Flûte no. 7, pp. 43–45, St-Clair sur Epte, 2012.
• "Approaching contemporary music". Pulse Field, Georgia State University, Atlanta, 2003.
• "Entretien avec Pierre Henry". Ars Sonora Revue no. 9, p. 20. Paris, 1999.
• "Quelles notes de programme pour la musique d'aujourd'hui ?". Média et Information. L'Harmattan, Paris 1998.
• "Interview de Steve Reich". Ars Sonora Revue no. 7, p. 7, Paris, 1998.
• " Congruences et l'électronique". Les cahiers de l'Ircam no. 1, pp. 67–77, Paris 1992.
• "Archipelago de Roger Reynolds". Inharmoniques no. 8, pp. 178–205. IRCAM, Paris, 1991.
• "Spatialisation: interprétation, composition, improvisation ?". Dhomont, Francis, ed. Lien, special issue "L'espace du son", pp. 53–55. Musiques et Recherches LIEN. Ohain, Belgium, 1989, reprinted in 1998

External links

• • • • Nicolas Vérin's page at Futurs-Composés

Media links

• Musical excerpts of Nicolas Vérin's work on MySpace
• Musical excerpts of Trio DSV on MySpace
• Video of a performance of Chinook (Nicolas Vérin) by guitarist Pierre Tereygeol
• Video of Pleine Lune (Nicolas Vérin) with visual by Dominique Piolet and Nicolas Vérin
• Short animation movie from Celia Eid based on an excerpt of Nicolas Vérin's music
• Video of a live performance of Khamsin (Nicolas Vérin) by drummer Benjamin Mourocq

Notes and References

1. Thion, Michel (1994). "La musique contemporaine en France en 1994", p. 67. Chroniques de l'AFAA no. 5, AFAA, Paris.
2. http://cci.musicaneo.com/12937_nicolas_verin.html Contemporary Composers Index
3. [Makis Solomos|Solomos, Makis]
4. http://www.classical-composers.org/comp/verin Classical Composers Index
5. Ouest-France, Rennes, 31 April 1977
6. Le Télégramme, Morlaix, 31 April 1977
7. [Paul Steenhuisen|Steenhuisen, Paul]
8. http://roger.ucsd.edu/search/?searchscope=9&searchtype=o&searcharg=8972457 Master of Arts, UCSD
9. http://roger.ucsd.edu/search/?searchscope=9&searchtype=o&searcharg=15300697 PhD Thesis, UCSD
10. http://www.jobert.fr/-VERIN-Nicolas-.html Éditions Jobert
11. Pierre Henry, quoted in Gilly, Cécile and Samuel, Claude (1991). Acanthes An XV, Van de Velde, Paris.
12. Chion Michel (2003). "Pierre Henry", p. 88. Fayard, Paris.
13. Tousignant, François,"Une très grande interprétation". Le Devoir, Montréal, 11 November 1999
14. http://www.festivalfutura.fr/LES%20FESTIVALS/fest-98-crest/programme98crest.html Festival Futura 1998
15. Congruences (1989) de Michael Jarrell, Elements d'analyse technique, by Nicolas Vérin, Francis Courtot, Michael Jarrell, IRCAM (Research institute : France) ed. IRCAM, 1990 (41 pages)
16. Levinas, Michaël and Castanet, Pierre-Albert (2002). "Le Compositeur Trouvère : écrits et entretiens (1982–2002)", pp. 94–97. L'Harmattan, Paris.
17. Levinas, Michaël (1994). "Transients of Attack and Hybrid Sound: Toward a New Mixity", pp. 13–15. Leonardo Music Journal, vol. 4. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.
18. [Miller Puckette|Puckette, Miller]
19. Dallet, Sylvie, and Veitl, Anne (2001). "Du sonore au musical: cinquante années de recherches concrètes (1948–1998)", p. 43. L'Harmattan, Paris. https://books.google.com/books?id=Ca261G-eGQEC&dq=%22nicolas+v%C3%A9rin%22+OR+%22v%C3%A9rin+nicolas%22+OR+%22nicolas+verin%22&pg=PA431
20. Pistorio, Elisabeth."Croisements chorégraphiques et musicaux en Gascogne". no. 723, pp. 48–49, 6 January 1994
21. Wernert, Marie-Laurence. Sud Ouest, 4 October 1993
22. Thion, Michel. Révolution, no. 673, p. 40. 21 January 1993
23. Giral, Espérance. "Musique des vignes – le goût des sens". La Dépêche du Midi, 8 November 1992
24. http://www.ircam.fr/99.html?event=24&L=1 IRCAM Festival Résonance 2004
25. L'Alsace-Le Pays, 26 July 1999
26. Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace, 26 July 1999
27. http://cnmat.berkeley.edu/event/2008/03/13/cecile_daroux_flute_and_nicolas_verin_electronics "Center for New Music and Audio Technology"
28. B. FZ. "La Perfection de l'improvisation". Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace, 8 August 2011
29. Dahan, Éric. "Sclavis électronique". Libération, 8 June 2002 http://www.liberation.fr/guide/0101415711-sclavis-electronique
30. Woodard, Josef. DownBeat, May 2002
31. http://music.arts.uci.edu/dobrian/gemseries01-02.htm#Densite University of California, Irvine
32. http://cnmat.berkeley.edu/event/2008/03/14/louis_sclavis_cecile_daroux_nicolas_verin_david_wessel Center for New Music and Audio Technology, UC Berkeley
33. http://sites.radiofrance.fr/francemusique/em/improviste/emission.php?e_id=13&d_id=305000116&arch=1 France-Musique concert and broadcast of 25 April 2007
34. Zvonar, Richard (2005). "A History of Spatial Music". eContact! 7.4, Canadian Electroacoustic Community https://pantherfile.uwm.edu/kdschlei/www/files/a-history-of-spatial-music.html
35. "Trois-Epis : à l'écoute des sons". L'Alsace-Le Pays, p. 7, 26 July 1999.
36. "Larsen et Cerbère". Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace, p. 30, 26 July 1999.
37. Agenda de la musique contemporaine, Centre de documentation de la musique contemporaine, Paris, April 2010. http://cdmc2012.e-nuksuk.com/fr/actualites/agenda-musique-contemporaine/autour-des-compositeurs/verin-nicolas
38. http://www.alamuse.com/article/195 Jeux pour l'Oreille, 1997 edition
39. http://misomusic.com/index.php/en/creation/competition/2009 Sond'Arte Competition 2009
40. Longchampt, Jacques. "Olympiades de composition à Athènes – Lumières d'Italie". Le Monde, p.22. 3 June 1989
41. http://www.cdmc.asso.fr/fr/compositeurs/commandes Commandes d'Etat on the CDMC's Website
42. Gayou, Evelyne (2007). "GRM, le Groupe de Recherches Musicales. Cinquante ans d'Histoire", p.242. Fayard, Paris.
43. http://www.institut-national-audiovisuel.fr/sites/ina/medias/upload/actualite/evenements/32eme_multiphonies_grm/grm-prog-5dec-09.pdf Program notes of GRM's concert in Paris, 5 December 2009
44. Lalitte, Philippe (2012). "Histoire d'un brise-glace : le festival Why Note et son public" in Festivals et sociétés en Europe XIXe-XXIe siècles, sous la direction de Philippe Poirrier, Territoires contemporains, nouvelle série – 3 -http://tristan.u-bourgogne.fr/umr5605/publications/Festivals_societes/P_Lalitte.html
45. http://www.memm.be/fr/contest/bourse Centre Henri Pousseur
46. Olschofka, Felix J. (2009). "A comparative analysis of works for solo violin and violin with electronics", UCSD. https://books.google.com/books?id=A9s4AQAAIAAJ&q=nicolas+vérin
47. http://forumdesimages.ti.smile.fr/Collections/notice/VDP11472 Forum des Images
48. http://www.exquise.org/video.php?id=8748 L'heure exquise
49. Bonnaure, Jacques. La Lettre du musicien no. 98. Paris, January 1991
50. Heizmann, Mathias. Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace. 21 July 1997
51. http://www.densite93.fr/node/91 Densité 93
52. "In vino musica", Les Inrockuptibles. December 1996
53. Marty, Eric. "San Francisco Contemporary Chamber Players and CNMAT in concert". Computer Music Journal. 22:4, p. 76, Winter 1998.
54. Ulrich, Allan. San Francisco Examiner, p. B3, 11 February 1998
55. Bonnaure, Jacques. La Lettre du musicien no. 175. March 1996
56. Heizmann, Mathias. Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace. 18 July 1997
57. Roy, Jean-Louis. Euridyce délivrée. Dijon, January 1998
58. http://www.ionio.gr/~esseam/MERES2010/PDF/paraskevi/pdf/p1_icem.pdf Electronic Music Festival in Corfu, Greece, 29 October 2010
59. Heizmann, Mathias. Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace. 23 July 1998
60. http://sites.radiofrance.fr/francemusique/em/allabreve-integrale/emission.php?e_id=100000071&d_id=425004531&arch=1 Radio broadcast on France-Musique
61. http://www.institut-national-audiovisuel.fr/sites/ina/medias/upload/grm/webradio/Webreport-14.html INA-GRM Webreport 14
62. Gervasoni, Pierre. Le Monde. 29 August 2006
63. Gervasoni, Pierre. Le Monde. 30 May 1998.