Blue Veil

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Concert for Biennale Son in partnership with La Schubertiade RTS Espace 2
La Centrale, Saturday, September 6, 8:30 p.m.

Composed and performed by Lucy Railton, Blue Veil is her first published solo work for cello. Recorded in June 2024 at the Église du Saint-Esprit in Paris by Kali Malone and Stephen O'Malley, then mixed by Marta Salogni and mastered by Rashad Becker, this 40-minute piece offers a sensory immersion into a world of finely tuned chords and intimate resonances.

Railton explores the most subtle acoustic qualities of her instrument, the internal frictions of sound, its textures and pulsations, and the way these vibrations resonate in space... and in the listener. She composes in real time, guided by the resonance of the cello, her own body and the environment. This intuitive approach gives rise to a meditative music, both dense and transparent, where each sound seems to respond to a need, unfolding or eroding with organic precision.

Railton employs harmony in just intonation in a refined way, shaping inner sound movements that conjure up auditory images, even absent sounds - an active listening that she mischievously describes as a form of sing-along music. The listener is no longer a mere receiver, but becomes a partner in this immersive harmonic journey, where landmarks dissolve to make way for a pure wave of perception.

Blue Veil follows on from the work of composers such as Catherine Lamb and Ellen Arkbro, and her collaborations with Kali Malone and Stephen O'Malley, as well as her interpretations of Maryanne Amacher and Morton Feldman. This is a powerful, vibrant and contemplative work, a testament to the cello's ability - and to listening - to open up unseen worlds.

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