Arborescence

Commissioned by Radio France with the support of the Francis and Mica Salabert Foundation

Dedicated to Arvo Pärt

"Arborescence", for cello and symphony orchestra strings, inspired by Italo Calvino's The Shape of the Tree (from Collection of Sand), builds a metaphor for the mirror-like form of a tree and the fractal-like process of arborescence — the radial ramification of branches and roots spreading from the trunk both upwards and downwards. 

The solo cello part evolves through slow, long, rising and falling lines, occasionally recalling Arvo Pärt's Spiegel im Spiegel. Yet it never contrasts with the orchestra, as in the traditional concertos; instead, it follows a more organic, spatial logic.

Here the cello emerges as an integral part of the dense texture — the axis, the core — gradually shifting from bass lines to its highest register, as roots and branches exchange places. The multilayered orchestra of individual string parts acts almost as acoustic electronics, surrounding the cellist and generating a resonant space that keeps expanding and transforming as the whole sound organism grows and unfolds. Justė Janulytė

Performances

5 February 2027 | Jean-Guihen Queyras, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, cond. Jaap van Zweden. Festival Présences, Radio France, Paris (FR)