Train d’enfer is built in three sections. It begins unassumingly, in an unstable manner, with obsessive halftones interrupted by lively, noisy little sonic beings. Gradually, processes appear, and their teleological character becomes increasingly prominent. These processes, deployed forcefully, are made of metamorphosing materials that fuse, pushed by the pulse. Iterative voices grow thunderous, occasionally letting brief minimal sequences emerge, their out-of-phase lines almost sketching new sonic textures. The pulse morphs slowly into a screaming machine, metal against metal, that hurls forward, despite the obstacles, toward the breaking point that provides the conclusion of the work.

— Stéphane Roy [English translation: François Couture, x-19]

Train d’enfer [a play on words meaning both “Hellish Train” and “Hellish Drive”] was realized in 2010-11 at the composer’s studio in Montréal (Québec), and premiered on March 30, 2011 during the concert Électrochocs 5 in the Studio multimédia of the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal. It received its European premiere on October 26, 2011 during the concert Neue elektroakustische Musik aus Kanada at the Hochschule für Künste Bremen in Bremen (Germany).

Premiere

• March 30, 2011, 20 Years of empreintes DIGITALes, Électrochocs 2010-11: Électrochocs 5: Stéphane Roy, Studio multimédia — Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, Montréal (Québec)