1963/67 PAROESIE for 10 instruments

PAROESIE (1963/67) was written in the same period as the string quartet, but when an opportunity arose for a performance a few years later, I rewrote the piece and made a new score altogether. It was performed by a section of the ASKO orchestra, which I conducted at the time and whose artistic director I was. Four memorable performances were given and on one of them the audience voted for a repeat performance at the end of the concert… I was preoccupied with the work of the Jesuit theologian, philosopher and anthropologist Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955) in those days. The title is taken from one of his books (Le Milieu Divin) and refers to a belief that the end of time would converge upon the Christ-Omega, present in all observable phenomena. Paroesie reflects therefore a sense of divine omnipresence. Considering his views were strongly inspired by his geological and palaeontological preoccupations (he discovered Homo Pekinensis) they took on a very tangible, materialistic meaning which led me, soon after, to relinquish religion altogether.