Synopsis
Interview with the Quebecois poet, novelist, and essayist Fernand Ouellette about his book on musician Edgar Varèse. He explains how he came to write the book, talks about his love for Varèse, the role of the machine in his music, the audience’s reception… All interspersed with rare excerpts from interviews with Edgar Varèse.
A word from Tënk
Fernand Ouellette discovered the work of composer Edgar Varèse at the end of the 1950s, while reading the "so intensely passionate" pages written by Henry Miller, with whom he corresponded. At the time, Quebec was still under the yoke of the "Grande Noirceur". A decade later, Ouellette was interviewed on the show Aujourd'hui for nearly 15 minutes, discussing with great erudition - yet in a simple language - his biography dedicated to Varèse (1883-1965), the first to be published worldwide. Even though Quebec was gradually entering modernity at that time, it is still remarkable today to observe that such a lengthy interview with a writer, discussing a composer whose fundamentally experimental work is not the most accessible, could be broadcast on public television. One can certainly argue that this kind of reportage perfectly fulfilled the noble educational mission advocated by the state-owned broadcaster.
Jean-Philippe Desrochers
Critic
