Tétragramme [score]

Tétragramme (2010) was commissioned by the Festival Émergence and received its world première on 2 October 2010, performed by the renowned Quatuor Danel, to whom the work is dedicated. The quartet is structured in four contrasting movements, each exploring a different dimension of Michel Lysight’s compositional language, rooted in New Consonant Music yet enriched by modal inflections, rhythmic intricacies, and an acute sense of timbral colour.

The first movement (Allegro) is constructed around three principal elements: a quasi-continuous rhythmic ostinato in regular note values; the gradual accumulation and superposition of short melodic-rhythmic motifs; and abrupt modal modulations. Intermittently, an interlude appears, acting as a temporary rupture in the motoric flow, itself progressively developed with each reappearance. The coda provides a jubilant synthesis of the movement’s material, concluding in a brilliant contrapuntal and rhythmic apotheosis.

The second movement (Andante) adopts a lyrical and introspective tone, built entirely upon a three-bar theme presented initially by the cello. This theme is divided into two segments, A and B, with B acting as the mirror inversion of A. The writing is predominantly imitative, but the texture is enriched by the superposition of contrasting sonic effects—such as pizzicato, col legno, and sul ponticello—which give the impression that each instrument is evolving independently within the ensemble. The final measures usher in an unreal, spectral atmosphere, shaped by the delicate shimmer of harmonics.

The third movement (Vivo) is propelled by a four-beat motif introduced by the first violin and immediately imitated, offset by one bar, by the second violin. The viola, in turn, enters with a delayed imitation, starting on the third beat of the motif, while the cello follows with its own entry beginning on the fourth. This technique produces a series of displaced imitative layers, eventually giving way to a second motif of a more homorhythmic nature. The movement unfolds through a series of modulations, creating a lively dialogue between linear counterpoint and rhythmic synchrony.

The final movement (Adagio) is a contemplative conclusion in which all four instruments are governed by a single motif comprising seven notes: C, G, D, B, E, A, F♯. Each player begins the motif on a different note, and the duration of each pitch is determined by the early numbers of the Fibonacci series (2, 3, 5, 8) and its retrograde (8, 5, 3, 2). This structural device shapes a meditative, ritualistic ascent into the high register, where the instruments linger before gradually descending. The piece concludes with a chord that aggregates the seven tones, layered one by one, as if sealing the work with the sonic imprint of its genetic code.