40 Haïku

Description

These 40 Haikus bring together texts by Basho, Buson, and Issa, three of the most famous Japanese poets, along with three haikus by his friend Mabesoone. From the age of 5, Renaud Gagneux has been in the company of the greatest musicians of his time. He will spend two periods at the Conservatoire de Paris: in 1962 for piano, and then in 1972 for composition, where he obtained a first prize. His union and political commitment to the far-left has been total since 1962, then during May '68 and throughout his time at the Radio: ORTF and then Radio France. Passionate about history, he explores the undergrounds of Paris, setting out in search of the Bièvre… until the day in 2004 when he goes to Japan and discovers a world he was unaware of, falling in love with it to the point of converting to Shintoism. He even renounces his earlier compositions, which he considers too Western, and now dedicates himself to setting haikus to music. The booklet presents the French translation of the poems recited in Japanese at the beginning of the musical interpretation proposed by Renaud Gagneux. The composer Laurent Coulomb, passionate about this poetry, raises the question of the compositional approach that unites Haiku and music. Four very close friends, whom the composer met at the Conservatoire in 1968, provide their testimonies: Jean-Pol Marchand recounts the life and conversion of Renaud Gagneux; Laure Morabito, a harpsichordist committed to the defense of contemporary pieces, discusses her commission for scores; Daniel Py, an oboist and haiku specialist, presents "a history of haiku." Finally, Laurent (Seegan) Mabesoone, a haiku author, novelist, essayist, translator, and French comparatist who primarily expresses himself in Japanese, talks about his meeting with Renaud Gagneux during the composer's travels to Nagano to visit his friend, the painter-engraver Mitsuru Ikeda.