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The Denis Dufour - Complete Acousmatic Works Vol. 1 box set is a project begun two years ago and published as part of a collaboration between the Kairos label and Maison ONA. We meet Maxime Barthélemy, co-director with Misael Gauchat of this independent publishing house, dedicated to contemporary creation and founded in 2013. We discuss with him how Maison ONA works, the genesis of this project and the energy, commitment, courage and perhaps a touch of madness that underpins such an adventure at a time when records are no longer as appreciated and consumed as they once were. This fascinating and passionate project also gives us the opportunity to talk a little about the economics of contemporary music.
Maison ONA is a publishing space centered around the score object "in an extended sense", as Maxime Barthélemy explains. Taking care of the graphic editing of their works (design, engraving, publishing...), the structure goes much further in its relationship with composers (including Franck Bedrossian, Raphaël Cendo, Ramon Lazkano, Lin-Ni Liao, Gérard Pesson and Colin Roche), whom it accompanies "in the tradition of the publishing profession". For the creation of a work, Maison ONA acts as a coordinator between the composer and the recipient, working from the manuscript to put the published scores on the musicians' desks, taking into account all the imperatives of the contemporary music microcosm: calendars, sponsors, ensembles, concert halls, festivals, and so on. Subsequently, the structure ensures communication, development and revival of the works after their creation, promoting radio play and eventual recording.
Our projects have two main focuses: the accompaniment of active composers, and a more retrospective orientation. Maison ONA is working with Brunhild Ferrari to edit the notes and manuscripts preserved around the work of her husband Luc Ferrari (1929-2005). These numerous written traces were discovered during an editing project previously undertaken on his mixed works. They led to the recent publication of the notes for Presque rien n°1, which are arranged as a reading guide, a book in score format, " a conductor who provides insights, listening keys, one could even speak of 'counter-listening', for well-known works that have already had an existence, been heard many times in concert and have been the subject of several recordings. This transcription of these working notes and this facsimile shed new light on listening and the work." Maison ONA is currently working on other similar publications, concerning the work of Bernard Parmegiani for example. It also manages the rental of broadcast masters for the acousmatic works in its catalog, original high-quality versions intended for concert use.
The name "ONA" is not an acronym. It was chosen for its sound, which makes sense in many languages around the world. It symbolizes three basic geometric figures through the font of its three letters - circle, square and triangle - as well as the three main waveforms (sinusoidal for the O circle, square for the N and triangular for the A).
Denis Dufour was one of the first composers to place his trust in Maison ONA back in 2013, "very quickly and very early on". The structure, which had few financial resources at the time, didn't have to buy any catalogs; everything was based on shared desire and energy. " The human element is central to the relationship, and lies at the heart of each editorial project. All our support is the fruit of a genuine encounter," explains Maxime Barthélemy. With Denis Dufour, Barthélemy moved from a student-teacher relationship (he attended his composition classes at the Paris Conservatoire) to that of publisher-composer, in which the composer invests himself "with the same generosity". The collaboration began with the progressive publication of scores of his instrumental and mixed music, representing half of a corpus of almost 200 opuses.
The box set idea Complete Acousmatic Works Vol. 1 Denis Dufour is a name that resonates in contemporary music. He is a great teacher, and has created several structures, such as Motus, and a major festival, Futura. He has done a great deal for creators, but very little for himself, releasing only a handful of records." The decision was taken, initially, to make all his acousmatic music available for listening. "After the pioneers, it was difficult to find a place for oneself. Denis Dufour's generation found it harder to exist, to grow in the shade of the great trees (Pierre Henry, Bernard Parmegiani, Luc Ferrari, François Bayle, Michel Chion...).of the previous generation. Now is the time to make them known. At Maison ONA, we are fortunate to support several generations of composers.
An editorial choice was made with the composer, aiming on the one hand to make each of the CDs listenable as an individual program, and on the other hand not to follow a chronological classification and to cover the whole of his career in the two box sets, favoring a balanced distribution "so that they have a comparable density". For example, there will be works with texts in both, as well as a balance between sound production techniques (work on magnetic tape, use of the computer, evolution of software). The second boxed set will include a number of pieces from 2022, still in the process of being composed.
So far, forty-four works have been published in the first boxed set, covering a period stretching from 1977 to 2020, representing a titanic eighteen hours of mastering. The work on the booklet, translated into English and German, is equally substantial. Each work is accompanied by an explanatory sheet outlining the context of composition and creation, as well as a note of intent. All the texts of the works are published. Biographies, commentaries and a preface by Frédéric Acquaviva are also included. All this represents two years' work, the culmination of forty-five years of creation.
For this project, Maison ONA has teamed up with the Vienna-based Kairos label. The latter, which focuses on creative music, is not specialized in acousmatic music, enabling the box set to reach a wider audience. Maison ONA also wanted to make it available on all listening platforms. From a financial point of view, Maison ONA was responsible for the CD masters, booklet and translation, while Kairos was involved in the production of the discs. In addition to the mechanical reproduction rights borne by the label, an agreement was reached concerning digital sales to be shared between the two structures. Maison ONA also received support from SACEM and the Centre National de la Musique, the latter helping to finance the translation of the texts. Maxime Barthélemy answers our question about the profitability of such a project:
"Today, in the whole circuit of musical creation - publishing, composers, ensembles, festivals, sponsors - the economy depends on institutional support. Thanks to this support, projects get off the ground, and a certain economic equilibrium is established. Of course, you don't set up a contemporary music label or publishing house to make a profit. There are many simpler ways of doing that! However, from an economic point of view, this project is not crazy. In fact, we hope to break even fairly quickly, bearing in mind that we have prepared the ground in terms of communication: we have launched a pre-order campaign for one hundred numbered boxed sets signed by Denis Dufour. In this way, money came in upstream to kick-start the project. Kairos sells its records worldwide through distributors. A boxed set of discs is also a good format. Think of the GRM box sets (Luc Ferrari, Bernard Parmegiani, François Bayle, Éliane Radigue, etc.) or the Pierre Henry box sets from Philips. These are sold out, and do well. The single disc has trouble making sense today, but the boxed set is quite effective. It's a beautiful object, and you want to handle it, as you would an LP.
Sales proved Maxime Barthélemy right, as this first run of 500 copies sold out very quickly. A reprint is already available from the publisher. Following publication of the second volume, Maison ONA plans to publish the composer's instrumental works (a project already underway with the CD Inventions by Ensemble Furians, 2018), followed by other forms of publication to showcase his work, including listening guides and even videos, including a feature-length documentary. To be continued.
Guillaume Kosmicki
