Accordion: Clément COUYSSAT Violin: Beatriz Lopes da Silva Cello: Fernando ESPIRITO SANTO In this trio, the accordion, violin, and cello are no longer used simply as musical instruments, but are treated as sound producers. A true symbiosis is thus created between these three artists, with the perfect symmetry formed by the fractal structure. This trio offers you a real journey through modernism, rich in instrumental effects, allowing you to hear a wide variety of timbres and colors. They explore the complementarity between the two string instruments and the wind instrument—the accordion—within a fusion of sounds that creates unexpected perceptions. Built around a central axis of original contemporary pieces, this musical journey is also composed of musical “bursts” through transcriptions (Piazzolla, Bloch...).

The main goal of this performance is to showcase the classical and contemporary repertoire (transcription, creation) of the accordion and to illustrate this through a story. That of Clément Couyssat's journey, as well as that of the accordion, both intimately connected. The accordion is a very recent instrument that is still evolving today, both in its construction and in the development of its repertoire. The program of this concert features transcribed works by A. Vivaldi, J.S. Bach, and E. Granados, as well as original pieces by Piazzolla (performed on the Bandoneon), and famous works by V. Zolotarev and E. Piaf. Finally, there are personal compositions and contemporary works. This project follows the release of the album “SEUL” by Clément Couyssat. The musical program of this performance is paired with a true light show using only “modern” effects, voice-overs accompanied by computer-assisted musical productions composed and created on demand by beatmaker Thibaut GREVSEN. An audiovisual universe is also offered, presenting a short film and visual effects projected on a large screen. We can observe a real desire to create a live performance centered around the concert accordion with a narrative thread, and to present a so-called “art music” repertoire in a thoroughly modern form.

It was a wonderful experience to collaborate with Clément on this accordion sonata project. Our meeting in Belgium was a true artistic spark, and we share the same passion for musical innovation. Clément introduced me to the many possibilities the accordion has to offer, and the compositional process—based on numerous exchanges about organological details and the playability of his instrument, which was redefined in quarter-tones for this work—took place in close collaboration with him. My diahemitonic aesthetic, which is based on the quarter-tone composition system of the same name that I invented in 2021 and continue to develop through my academic research to this day, opens the door to a world of the unconscious and of dreams. This is due to the use of frequencies and rhythms that resonate beyond what is consciously audible. It is through this dreamlike color that I invite both performer and listener to explore my sonic universe. This sonata for accordion, inspired by the canons of ancient Greek rhetoric, resembles a speech. A whimsical introduction, employing virtuosity and spectacle as rhetorical devices to capture the audience's attention, preludes the exposition of ideas, which are then developed in the argument after a brief digression. The peroration then concludes the discourse, allowing a certain serenity to finally emerge from the chaos.

Disparity for chromatic accordion is the second part of the cycle "The Invisible Cities", begun in 2024. This cycle was born from my fascination with the eponymous collection by Italo Calvino, and its purpose is to add my own sonic musings to Calvino's colorful hallucinations. World-city, universe-city… each city is conceived as a unique microcosm, written for a different instrument or instrumental ensemble. Rhizome-city, pathway-city… each city is a dream, a memory, an extrapolation, a distorted escape from another. Disparity pays homage to Alexander Calder through two concepts dear to him: the mobile and disparity. The mobile, conceived as a sonic object, is the central inspiration for this piece; it provides the harmonic and gestural material, which is then developed in various stylized forms. The notion of disparity, so important to the American sculptor, is also foundational. The accordion, as an instrument, strikes me as a compelling embodiment of this concept: beneath its apparent structural symmetry lies a deep asymmetry, generating distinct possibilities and constraints. Exploring these is at the heart of the piece, made particularly audible through the exaggerated use of relay gestures between the two keyboards—on pitches that are identical in height but differ in timbre and spatial projection. Disparity is dedicated to Clément Couyssat.

Written for standard bass accordion, this sonata celebrates a sound world shaped by a melodic keyboard and a keyboard of pre-set chords — a unique architecture, familiar to accordionists from the popular repertoire. I wanted to pay tribute to the legacy of iconic accordion figures such as Marcel Azzola, André Astier, Joss Baselli... and all those who have brought prestige to this instrument. Here, the left hand unfolds like a miniature orchestra, conceived as a full orchestral entity, engaging in dialogue with the refined melodic line of the right hand. The writing, sometimes polytonal, plays with the instrument’s timbres, textures, and idiomatic techniques, creating a distinctive sonic material. Throughout the piece, moments of technical demand and brilliance emerge, where virtuosity blends with expressiveness; an embraced virtuosity, following in the footsteps of the great accordionists of the past... In the background, a minuet whispers the spirit of great waltzes of bygone days, like a reimagined dance, imbued with tenderness and memory. Through his sensitive interpretation, Clément brings to life the living history of the accordion, where the specificity of pre-set chords becomes vibrant matter, serving emotion, gesture, and remembrance.