
Jérôme Combier
French composer born 17 July 1971.
Jérôme Combier was born on 17 7 71, a symmetrical day, in the greater Paris region. At the age of nineteen, he decided to learn music, and was accepted to study musicology at the Université de Saint-Denis. There, he wrote a thesis under Antoine Bonnet on The principle of variation in Anton Webern‘s work. He also studied guitar with Antonio Membrado, but meeting Hacène Larbi naturally oriented him toward music theory, analysis, and orchestration, after which his encounter with Emmanuel Nunes at the Conservatoire national supérieur de Paris in 1997 set him definitively on the path of composing. He also studied counterpoint at the conservatory of Rueil-Malmaison.
In 1995, Combier was a finalist in the Griegselskalpet competition in Oslo. In September 1998, he participated in the composition session of the Fondation Royaumont, and, as part of an exchange program, completed a two-month residency in Japan. He won the Prix de la vocation (Fondation Bleustein-Blanchet) and the Prix Pierre Cardin. In 2001-2002, he was selected to participate in Cursus (the IRCAM’s composition and computer music course). From 2002 to 2004, with support from the Conservatoire de Paris, he taught and conducted in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan at the Tashkent and Almaty Conservatories.
The following year he was a resident at the Villa Médicis. There, he met Raphaël Thierry, who would create the visual installations for the Vies silencieuses cycles he composed for the Cairn ensemble, and the writer Sylvain Coher, with whom he dreamed up the opera Hypothèse autour du grand amour. In Rome, in the villages of the Sabine Hills, he and visual artist Xavier Noiret-Thomé participated in the “20 eventi” exhibit sponsored at that time by Guiseppe Penone.
In 2002, he composed Pays de vent for the Orchestre national de France. In 2005 and 2007, he composed for the Ensemble Recherche and the Ensemble intercontemporain for the Festival d’Automne in Paris. In collaboration with Pierre Nouvel, he created the installation Noir gris for the Beckett exhibit organized by the Georges Pompidou Center.
In 2008, he taught composition at the Royaumont Abbey. That same year, he was selected by Pierre Boulez for the Louvre’s concert cycle, “Le Louvre invite Pierre Boulez“. In 2008, the Ensemble Ictus invited Combier, Pierre Nouvel, and Bertrand Couderc to create a stage adaptation of W.G. Sebald’s novel Austerlitz, which premiered at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in July 2011 and was then performed at the Opéra de Lille. In 2012, he wrote Ruins for the Orchestre National de Lyon and the opera Terre et cendres, based on the novel by Atiq Rahimi, which premiered in Lyon at the Théâtre de la Croix-rousse in March 2012. In 2015, he was a composer-in-residence at the Scène nationale d’Orléans, where his dawnlight premiered as part of dawnlight/Night: Light, a choreographic performance by Alban Richard with music by Raphaël Cendo. In 2016, Campo Santo, Impure histoire de fantômes, a concert/installation for five musicians, electronics, and stage and video sets, premiered at the Scène nationale d’Orléans, directed by Pierre Nouvel.
Jérôme Combier conducts the Cairn Ensemble, which he founded in the late 1990s and teaches sound and music design at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Paris-Cergy.
His music is published by Lemoine and Verlag Neue Musik (Berlin). He has recorded with the Motus label (Pays de vent) and with the æon label (Vies silencieuses, which won the Grand Prix of the Académie Charles Cros).
© Ircam-Centre Pompidou, 2017
Sources
Jérôme Combier.
- Solo (excluding voice)
- elec ircam Ircam cursus Kogarashi, le premier soupir des fantômes for guitar and electronics (2002), 8 mn, Lemoine [program note]
- Cordelia des nuées for flute (2003), 5 mn 40 s, Lemoine
- Bois sombre In the vacant day, for solo viola (2006), 10 mn, Lemoine
- Anima Foglia for solo violin (2008), 11 mn, Lemoine
- Embâcle for piano (2009), 10 mn, Lemoine [program note]
- Trois soleils educational work for guitar (2014), Lemoine
- Études n° 1-4 for piano (2016), 6 mn, Verlag Neue Musik
- elec Ki-Ka-Pou for microtonal and electronic accordion (2016), 7 mn, Verlag Neue Musik
- elec Yurei for electric guitar and live electronics (2016), 11 mn, Verlag Neue Musik
- Wood and bones for cello (2020), 11 mn, Lemoine
- Chamber music
- Ishi for shakuhachi and piano (1999), 5 mn, Inédit
- Fragment du froid for violin and piano (1998-2003), 6 mn, Inédit
- Voix d'ombres for flute and cello (2003), 8 mn, Inédit
- Essere pietra for guitar, piano, percussion, viola and cello (2004), 6 mn, Lemoine
- Essere fumo for flute, viola and cello (2005), 5 mn, Lemoine
- Essere neve... d'une neige à l'autre for clarinet, guitar and cello (2005), 6 mn, Lemoine
- Estran, poussière grise sans nuage for ensemble (2004-2005), 15 mn, Lemoine [program note]
- Feuilles des paupières for flute, clarinet, piano and percussion (2005), 6 mn, Lemoine
- Heurter la lumière encore for guitar, piano and percussion (2005), 5 mn, Lemoine
- Noir azur for string trio (2006), 15 mn, Inédit
- ircam Noir gris for string trio, sound and visual installation, creation by Jérôme Combier and Pierre Nouvel (2006), 5 mn, Lemoine [program note]
- Sables de vieux os for two pianos and two percussions (2006-2007), 12 mn, Lemoine [program note]
- elec ircam Gone for string trio, clarinet, piano and electronics (2010), Lemoine [program note]
- Terra d'ombra for cello, piano and harp (2011), 11 mn, Lemoine
- Dog eat dog for guitar and cello (2013), 5 mn, Lemoine
- Parler longuement de fantômes for string quartet (2014), 30 mn, Lemoine
- elec ircam dawnlight for ensemble and electronics (2015), 20 mn, Verlag Neue Musik
- Lambeaux for string quartet and piano (2015), 18 mn, Lemoine
- Freezing Fields for cello and piano (2017), 14 mn, Verlag Neue Musik
- Fumo di pietra for flute, clarinet, cello and piano (2019), 5 mn 30 s, Lemoine
- Le ombre delle cose for violin, cello, accordion and piano (2020), Lemoine
- Instrumental ensemble music
- Feux noirs for small orchestra and ensemble (2001), 17 mn, Inédit
- Petite obscurité for flute, clarinet, guitar, viola and cello (2002), 7 mn, Lemoine [program note]
- Esquisses à propos des nuages for Kobyz, strings, two flutes and prepared piano (2003), 7 mn, Inédit
- Pays de vent the Hebrides, for large orchestra (2002-2003), 11 mn, Le Chant du Monde [program note]
- Respirer l'ombre for ensemble (2005), 6 mn, Lemoine
- Gris Cendre Lessness, for large orchestra (2006), 12 mn, Lemoine [program note]
- Vies silencieuses cycle for ensemble (2004-2006), 40 mn, Lemoine [program note]
- elec ircam Stèles d'air for ensemble and electronics (2007), 20 mn, Lemoine [program note]
- Rust for two clarinets, two trombones, percussion, piano and string quartet (2009), 16 mn, Lemoine [program note]
- Ruins for large orchestra (2011), 13 mn, Lemoine
- Die finsteren Gewässer der Zeit for ensemble (2013), 20 mn, Lemoine
- elec ircam stage Campo Santo, Impure histoire de fantômes installation-concert for five musicians, electronics and stage and video device (2016), 1 h 30 mn about , Verlag Neue Musik [program note]
- Concertant music
- Lichen for piano and small ensemble (2013), 18 mn, Lemoine
- Conditions de lumière for violin and ten instruments (2017), 19 mn 57 s, Lemoine
- Vocal music and instrument(s)
- L'acqua che canta ancora for two voices, lute, two vielles and percussions (2008), Lemoine [program note]
- elec stage Austerlitz monodrama for an actor, ensemble of six musicians and soundtrack (2011), 1 h 30 mn, Lemoine [program note]
- stage Terre et cendres opera (2011-2012), 60 mn
- Tears flow again for voice, flute, harp, violin, viola and cello (2019), 16 mn, Lemoine
- The Last Ebb four melodies for soprano, flute and clarinet (2019), 11 mn, Verlag Neue Musik
- Sollicitudes music for a choreographic creation by Hervé Robbe (2021)
- A cappella vocal music
- Silence depuis des siècles sans toi for mixed choir (2001), 10 mn, Inédit
- 2021
- Sollicitudes music for a choreographic creation by Hervé Robbe
- 2020
- Le ombre delle cose for violin, cello, accordion and piano, Lemoine
- Wood and bones for cello, 11 mn, Lemoine
- 2019
- Fumo di pietra for flute, clarinet, cello and piano, 5 mn 30 s, Lemoine
- Tears flow again for voice, flute, harp, violin, viola and cello, 16 mn, Lemoine
- The Last Ebb four melodies for soprano, flute and clarinet, 11 mn, Verlag Neue Musik
- 2017
- Conditions de lumière for violin and ten instruments, 19 mn 57 s, Lemoine
- Freezing Fields for cello and piano, 14 mn, Verlag Neue Musik
- 2016
- elec ircam stage Campo Santo, Impure histoire de fantômes installation-concert for five musicians, electronics and stage and video device, 1 h 30 mn about , Verlag Neue Musik [program note]
- elec Ki-Ka-Pou for microtonal and electronic accordion, 7 mn, Verlag Neue Musik
- elec Yurei for electric guitar and live electronics, 11 mn, Verlag Neue Musik
- Études n° 1-4 for piano, 6 mn, Verlag Neue Musik
- 2015
- 2014
- Parler longuement de fantômes for string quartet, 30 mn, Lemoine
- Trois soleils educational work for guitar, Lemoine
- 2013
- Die finsteren Gewässer der Zeit for ensemble, 20 mn, Lemoine
- Dog eat dog for guitar and cello, 5 mn, Lemoine
- Lichen for piano and small ensemble, 18 mn, Lemoine
- 2012
- stage Terre et cendres opera, 60 mn
- 2011
- elec stage Austerlitz monodrama for an actor, ensemble of six musicians and soundtrack, 1 h 30 mn, Lemoine [program note]
- Ruins for large orchestra, 13 mn, Lemoine
- Terra d'ombra for cello, piano and harp, 11 mn, Lemoine
- 2010
- elec ircam Gone for string trio, clarinet, piano and electronics, Lemoine [program note]
- 2009
- Embâcle for piano, 10 mn, Lemoine [program note]
- Rust for two clarinets, two trombones, percussion, piano and string quartet, 16 mn, Lemoine [program note]
- 2008
- Anima Foglia for solo violin, 11 mn, Lemoine
- L'acqua che canta ancora for two voices, lute, two vielles and percussions, Lemoine [program note]
- 2007
- Sables de vieux os for two pianos and two percussions, 12 mn, Lemoine [program note]
- elec ircam Stèles d'air for ensemble and electronics, 20 mn, Lemoine [program note]
- 2006
- Bois sombre In the vacant day, for solo viola, 10 mn, Lemoine
- Gris Cendre Lessness, for large orchestra, 12 mn, Lemoine [program note]
- Noir azur for string trio, 15 mn, Inédit
- ircam Noir gris for string trio, sound and visual installation, creation by Jérôme Combier and Pierre Nouvel, 5 mn, Lemoine [program note]
- Vies silencieuses cycle for ensemble, 40 mn, Lemoine [program note]
- 2005
- Essere fumo for flute, viola and cello, 5 mn, Lemoine
- Essere neve... d'une neige à l'autre for clarinet, guitar and cello, 6 mn, Lemoine
- Estran, poussière grise sans nuage for ensemble, 15 mn, Lemoine [program note]
- Feuilles des paupières for flute, clarinet, piano and percussion, 6 mn, Lemoine
- Heurter la lumière encore for guitar, piano and percussion, 5 mn, Lemoine
- Respirer l'ombre for ensemble, 6 mn, Lemoine
- 2004
- Essere pietra for guitar, piano, percussion, viola and cello, 6 mn, Lemoine
- 2003
- Cordelia des nuées for flute, 5 mn 40 s, Lemoine
- Esquisses à propos des nuages for Kobyz, strings, two flutes and prepared piano, 7 mn, Inédit
- Fragment du froid for violin and piano, 6 mn, Inédit
- Pays de vent the Hebrides, for large orchestra, 11 mn, Le Chant du Monde [program note]
- Voix d'ombres for flute and cello, 8 mn, Inédit
- 2002
- elec ircam Ircam cursus Kogarashi, le premier soupir des fantômes for guitar and electronics, 8 mn, Lemoine [program note]
- Petite obscurité for flute, clarinet, guitar, viola and cello, 7 mn, Lemoine [program note]
- 2001
- Feux noirs for small orchestra and ensemble, 17 mn, Inédit
- Silence depuis des siècles sans toi for mixed choir, 10 mn, Inédit
- 1999
- Ishi for shakuhachi and piano, 5 mn, Inédit
Documents
- Entretien croisé avec Jérôme Combier et Pierre Nouvel « Travailler à une idée artistique dans un monde qui ne l’attend pas » par Jérémie Szpirglas, May 3, 2017
Liens Internet
- Éditions Henry Lemoine : http://www.henry-lemoine.com
- Ensemble Cairn : http://www.ensemble-cairn.com
- Images d’une œuvre n° 1 : Stèles d’air de Jérôme Combier
- Conférence de Jérôme Combier dans le cadre du Cursus de l’Ircam : « Poésie et musique aujourd’hui : des nouvelles voies pour la création contemporaine », 17 octobre 2018.
(liens vérifiés en février 2022).
Articles
- David SANSON, « Entre les mots - Entretien avec Jérôme Combier », dans Accents : le webmag de l’Ensemble intercontemporain, 2007. Lire l’article en ligne.
- David VERDIER, « Ombres et lumières - entretien avec Jérôme Combier », dans Accents : le webmag de l’Ensemble intercontemporain, 2015. Lire l’article en ligne.
- Gail WEIN, « From the Seine to the Danube » dans Andante, andante Corp., 2001.
- Wilson LE PERSONNIC, « Hervé Robbe & Jérôme Combier, Sollicitudes », entretien publié le 5 janvier 2022 sur MaCulture.fr.
(liens vérifiés en février 2022).
Discographie
- Jérôme COMBIER, dawnlight ; Noir Gris ; Dog eat Dog ; Terra d’Ombra ; Gone, Ensemble Cairn dans « Gone », 1 cd æon, 2016.
- Jérôme COMBIER, Vies silencieuses, comprenant Essere fumo ; Heurter la lumière encore ; Interlude 1 ; Feuilles des paupières ; Interlude 2 ; Bois sombre ; Essere neve; Essere pietra ; Interlude 3 ; Respirer l’ombre, Ensemble Cairn, direction : Guillaume Bourgogne, 1 cd æon, 2007, AECD0754.
- Jérôme COMBIER, Quatuor à cordes 1 dans « une traînée de safran dans le ciel noir », comprenant des œuvres de Eric Tanguy, Jacques Lenot, Daniel Adamo, Quatuor Rosamonde : Agnès Sulem-Bialobroda et Thomas Tercieux : violons, Jean Sulem : alto, Xavier Gagnepain : violoncelle, 1 cd inédit [Enregistré le 4 octobre 2002 dans le cadre d’une Carte blanche au compositeur Eric Tanguy lors du festival Musica XXI (25 septembre - 18 octobre 2002) à Rome, Villa Médicis].
- Jérôme COMBIER, Pays de vent dans « Les Hébrides », Orchestre national de France, direction : Pascal Rophé, 1 cd inédit, 2003 [enregistré à Radio France].
- Jérôme COMBIER, Feux noirs ; Voix d’ombres ; Pays de vent ; Petite obscurité ; Cordelia des nuées ; Kogarashi; le premier soupir des fantômes ; Ishi ; Fragment de froid dans « Pays de vent », Ensemble Les Cordes, Orchestre national de France, direction : Pascal Rophé, Ensemble de Cairn, direction : Guillaume Bourgogne, 1 cd Motus, coll. « Motus Aujourd’hui » et « MFA Musique française d’aujourd’hui », 2005, M204007.