Adapted from the music composed for the play Hamletmachine (1979) by Heiner Müller (1929-1995), staged by Brigitte Haentjens in Montréal in 2001.

The music was omnipresent during the play, one hour and fifteen minutes of music. About thirty different themes were used. For the concert version, I reworked all the sounds and recomposed every sequence in order to produce an autonomous version. For the first time in many years I have used electronic sounds. The title echoes a previous work, Hamlet-Machine with Actors (2003), which incorporated the voices and sounds of the actors of the play. This version excludes those to leave only the music. The work, like the play, is trying to describe the oppression of man by the society, the representation of taboos — including sexual ones — through the show and the end of art.

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Hamlet-machine without Actors was realized in 2014 at the composer’s studio in Montréal (Québec) and premiered on October 28, 2015 during a solo concert at PACE Studio 1 of De Montfort University (Leicester, UK).

Premiere

• October 28, 2015, Robert Normandeau, Studio 1 — PACE Building — De Montfort University, Leicester (England, UK)