La Nuée
(English: The Flock)

Johannes Eimermacher – composition, alto saxophone
Audrey Lauro, Frans Van Isacker – alto saxophones
Sylvain Debaisieux – tenor saxophone
Hanne De Backer – baritone saxophone

A flock is a gathering of gregarious birds, generally made up of the same species, but can also be composed of mixed species. A lot about the behaviour of flocks is still unknown. The formations they fly seem to serve not only as a means of locomotion or protection against predators, but also as a form of expression, an art comparable to music based on a feeling for rhythm and movement. Some suggest, that the birds are keyed up to a state of quickened responsiveness, possessing an extra sense which allows them a kind of telepathic communication. The birds gather to form one whole organism. The character of this new organism is not recognizable in any of the individuals that constitute it, it is a unique character born out of the relations between them. The individuals follow very simple rules, and although there is no centralized control structure dictating how they should behave, local, and to a certain degree random interactions between them lead to the emergence of intelligent global behaviour, unknown to the individuals.

- use the upwash from one of the wingtip vortices of the bird infront of you to fly upwards
- move towards the middle of the group of birds that are within sight
- move away if someone comes too close
- follow the same direction as your neighbors
- mimic their maneuvers

Each bird in the flock, despite his place, can decide a change for the whole formation.

My initial motivation is to bring together a group of musicians that blend into one sound body. One single organism that can move as an entity, breathe, change its form, its density, its maneuvers, its direction, its speed, an entity that can divide itself into subgroups, in individuals and reunite. A body that is more complex than the sum of all its elements. It is the relationship between these elements, their reciprocal influences that give life to the individual character of this new body. I conceive this group as a single instrument, from which due to the limited choice of instruments a particular timbre and playing technique arises.
Though La Nuée is esthetically inspired by composers like Helmut Lachenmann, Jürg Frey, Sofia Gubaidulina, György Ligeti and others, our main inspiration is the instrument itself, and it's various possibilities of sound production.

In "Le Souffle" (english: the breath) we are exploring a wide variety of techniques to produce different kinds of air-sounds on the saxophone.

For "La Nuée" (english: the flock) we invited drummer Joao Lobo to join us. This composition is based on a graphic score which I draw of imaginary bird flights. It suggests directions and form, leaving freedom for the choice of the sound-material being used, and for unpredicted internal interactions between the musicians.

„Flottant“ (english: floating) is a static piece in the sense that it is consists of one single continous quartertone-chord. This chord gradually transformes itself in the way that there is always only one note at a time that changes. Over a time span of ten minutes it evolves from a wide and open range to a more and more narrow one, concluding in a five-quartertone-cluster.

„L'éveil“ (english: the awakening) is a piece composed entirely of multiphonics (a technique which allows playing several notes simultaneously on the saxophone). Each multiphonic is passed on to the next by common tones, creating a connecting line between them. After a row of these connected sounds, a second and then a third line are established, creating a simultaneous polyphony of multiphonics.

Since a few years we are working very closely with the drummer Joao Lobo on developping a common language. Our drone piece „Le départ“ (english: the departure) is the result of this collaboration.