Volume 2

Following the compass of an entrancing debut, Flore Laurentienne's Volume II presents another palette of rich orchestral sound, where changing forces of water inspire metaphorical markers that navigate passages of life and loss. Mathieu David Gagnon resumes his voyage into environment and emotion with Volume II, drawing inspiration from the rivers and rugged wilderness of the composer's native Quebec. In his return as Flore Laurentienne - the namesake of an inventory documenting St. Lawrence Valley flora - Gagnon assembles vivid melodic motifs and delicate modulation with a vast string ensemble to emulate the tides of human experience. Listeners of Volume I will recognise Gagnon's signature approach towards reworking and reframing an emblematic melody or concept across a series of works in Volume II, a process he likens to that of a painter creating multiple sketches of the same view. Continued from the first album, the enigmatic 'Fleuve' series is conjured to evoke the multiple personalities of the great St. Lawrence River, and the 'Navigation' works ('III' and 'IV') wade through dappled progressions and expansive streams of string, the latter of which harbors the gentle meanderings of improvised clarinet. In the world of Flore Laurentienne, complexity emerges from simplicity as the composer roams familiar environments in constant flux. Gagnon extracts beauty through repetition and constraint, utilizing the writing style of counterpoint for which one of his great

Tracks

1~1~Voiles
1~2~Navigation Iii
1~3~Navigation Iv
1~4~Fleuve V
1~5~Promenade
1~6~Kamouraska
1~7~Canon
1~8~Fleuve V (L?Ger Retour)

Details

Format: Vinyl LP
Artist: Flore Laurentienne
Release Date: 21 October 2022
Genre: Classical Music
Label: RVNG
Distributor: Rocket Group