Les forges de l’invisible is inspired by the spirit of the 18th-Century English poet, engraver, and visionary, William Blake (1757-1827), who wrote of the indestructibility of innocence, the necessity of seizing life and the awakening of the imagination. Many instances of dual imagery can be found in Blake’s poetry, notably in The Tyger (1794), where the twin themes of destruction and creation are explored, the former being a necessary prelude to the latter. From this came the idea of translating these contrasting notions into sound through the electroacoustic medium, which, in its endless malleability, is ideally suited to their transmission.

In the first movement the listener is invited to promenade through a world of almost entirely transformed sounds that alternate between diaphanous webs and moments of almost violent force. The second movement centers on the concept of the forge and the duality inherent to its function: melt down in order to reconstruct.

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Les forges de l’invisible was realized in 2002-03 at the multitrack electroacoustic studio of City University London (England, UK) and the Studio Akousma of the Academy of Soignies (Belgium), and premiered on February 25, 2003 during the Electroacoustic Concert at City University London. Much of the sound material for Les forges de l’invisible was created in April 2000 during a residency at the Centre de création musicale Iannis Xenakis (CCMIX) in Paris (France) with support from the Service of Cooperation and Cultural Action of the French Embassy in Belgium. Thanks to Thomas Gardner. Les forges de l’invisible was awarded the 1st prize and the Public Prize at the 3rd Biennial Acousmatic Composition Competition Métamorphoses (Brussels, Belgium, 2004) as well as an Honorable Mention at the Concurso Internacional de Música Eletroacústica de São Paulo (CIMESP ’03, Brazil).

Premiere

• February 25, 2003, Electroacoustic Concert, Performance Space — College Building — City, University of London, London (England, UK)

Awards

• Honorable Mention, International Electroacoustic Music Contest of São Paulo 2003, São Paulo (Brazil)
• Prize ex æquo, 3rd Biennial Acousmatic Composition Competition Métamorphoses 2004, Ohain (Belgium)
• Public prize, 3rd Biennial Acousmatic Composition Competition Métamorphoses 2004, Ohain (Belgium)