Les excentriques, for six instruments, is the latest composition by Matteo Franceschini, and will be making its world premiere on January 30, 2017 at the Philharmonie de Paris. The lineup features musicians from Ensemble Intercontemporain.

Franceschini explores his curiosity for “eccentric” characters. In the introduction to the piece, the composer analyzes the meaning of this term and writes: [ECCENTRIC] Not having the same center. The definition borrowed from geometry may also be applied to people, whose actions in some way deviate from the “center”.  The composer asks whom we may define as “eccentric” today. […] Common sense views eccentricity as extravagant, grotesque, singular behavior. […] This “physiognomic treatise” is a gallery of portraits in sound. The six characters […] are not the fruit of my imagination, since they all exist or have existed. It would be useless to reveal their names, their stories, their origins. They are all people I have known. These eccentrics […] have all manifested, in different forms, their refusal to submit to the laws of the “daily routine”[…]. The “true” eccentric is anyone who simply sees things differently, anyone who pursues independence, be it intellectual or in terms of lifestyle […].

The piece, written for flute, clarinet, piano, violin, viola and cello, was commissioned by Ensemble Intercontemporain, with support provided by the André Hoffmann Foundation.  Les excentriques will be performed at London’s Wigmore Hall on June 1, 2017.