As the first winner of the newly created Pisar Prize, Alex Nante has composed a song cycle based on fragments of poems by the American transcendentalist philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), which will be premiered in Paris on 30 April under the title A Subtle Chain.
Alex Nante himself says of A Subtle Chain: "Certain elements of Emerson's poetry and thought inspire the discourse of the work, such as the divine character of nature and the evolution of the soul, the omnipresence of music in human life and the idea of an omnipotent God who contains all opposites. Above all, A Subtle Chain is a tribute to the music inherent in Emerson's poetry, a music that opens itself up to the mysterious and unattainable."
The Pisar Prize was jointly established by the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, the Juilliard School and the Villa Albertine in memory of John Cage and Merce Cunningham. It aims to strengthen cultural relations between France and the United States by commissioning and performing a work by a young composer each year.
A Subtle Chain - Five songs after Ralph Waldo Emerson
Théâtre des Champs-Élysées