Tombeau de Marin Mersenne is a suite of dances that pays homage to this 15th-century scholar, friend of Descartes and supporter of Galileo, who wrote several scientific works as well as an extensive treatise on music, Harmonie universelle.

Marin Mersenne was the perfect Renaissance man. He was interested in mathematics, astronomy, physics, and music. A true example to others, except that as a scientific specialist, he drew up lists for the Church of scholars and literary figures suspected of atheism, including important figures — heroes, in fact — such as Giordano Bruno and Machiavelli.

I was in my twenties when I discovered Harmonie universelle, and I ended up photo- copying many excerpts from the book. These photocopies have stayed with me for 40 years, and I promised myself that I would do something with them, especially the section where Mersenne, as a precursor of combinatorial mathematics, lists the 720 melodies that can be created with the same 6 notes (C, D, E, F, G, A) — a maniacal align- ment of all possible combinations. I’ve always wondered what it would sound like as a piece of music, and I’m finally realizing my dream with Tombeau de Marin Mersenne.

In Galope, the third movement of my piece, Mersenne’s first 120 combinations of six notes that all begin on C parade in front of us.

In Rigaudon, I transposed these scales into numbers, from one to six, and used this series to determine the bar indicators: 120 measures with 120 bar changes. In reality, I only wrote six bars, foreseeing that they could be presented in an ever-changing order. For me, this movement is reminiscent of Zimbabwean mbira music. It also echoes Conlon Nancarrow’s pieces for player piano.

My interest in this kind of composition is to create music that is always changing, while giving an impression of stability. The listeners’ attention is maintained, as if hypnotized by their inability to guess what the next measure will be.

— Jean Derome [English translation: Isaiah Ceccarelli, xi-23]

Premiere

• June 15, 2017, Carte blanche à Marie Josée Simard, Chapelle historique du Bon-Pasteur, Montréal (Québec)