Listen to Episode
BESTIARY - Contemporary Musical Stories Tales that come to life in a wildly new way. A musical journey beyond time and space. Step into alien, animal minds—hear their side of the story and what they have to say about us humans. Welcome to the contemporary-music universe of Bestiary, the podcast. Keep your ears open and dive into two tales from Bestiary, by contemporary Quebec (formerly British) writer Jim Burke. Patrick Mathieu’s resolutely contemporary music takes you to places beyond time and space, cutting you loose from the world around you and immersing you in a sonic, hypnotic cocoon. Weightlessness, uncertainty, and ambition are the matter of First Dog on the Moon, while Spout the Story of a Whale’s subaquatic score flips back and forth between the vast echoing ocean depths and a raucous Saturday night at the bar. The score — as much a part of the story as the voice of the narrators — is performed by 11 Orchestre symphonique de Drummondville members and the Quatuor Voxpopuli. Ready to step outside? ________________________________________________________ SPOUT, THE STORY OF A WHALE What is Jonah's whale could tell us his side of the story? Many long years have passed, and the whale in the tale looks back on it all and tells us his side, dredging memories up from the depths to face them in the here and now. Come along on this epic journey. Spout the whale is played by Benoît Brière. Recorded in March 2022 at Studio Upper Room in Drummondville. Composer: Patrick Mathieu Narrator: Benoît Brière Conductor: Jean-Michel Malouf Original Script: Jim Burke French translation: Guillaume Corbeil Orchestre symphonique de Drummondville's musicians (Jeffrey Stonehouse - flute, Lindsay Robert - oboe, Antonin Cuerrier - clarinet, Mary Chalk - bassoon, Corine Chartré-Lefebvre - horn, Pascal Lafrenière - horn, Frédéric Gagnon - trumpet, Sébastien Côté - trombone, Catherine Varvaro - timpani and drum, Vincent Séguin - percussions, David Gélinas - double bass) Quatuor Voxpopuli (Antoine Bareil - First violin, Uliana Drugova - Second violin, Lambert Chen- viola, Ioav Bronchti - cello) Artistic Directors: Julien Proulx & Patrick Mathieu Sound engineer: Musicom (Philippe Bouvrette) Sound design and mixing: Éric Leboeuf Voice recording: Studio Cinélume (Montréal) Production Director: Marie-Michelle Raby