If, as Philip Glass once suggested, “music is a place, in the poetic sense, that we travel towards”, then the grand hall of Musée Ariana may well be the ideal destination for the nocturnal recital of François Mardirossian. A pianist and explorer of the hidden pathways of music history, he proposes an extraordinary experience shaped by minimalism, weaving together the worlds of Philip Glass, Moondog, Erik Satie and Aphex Twin. Across eight hours (pauses included), audiences are invited to lose themselves in the intoxicating labyrinth of repetition, where repetition is not a constraint but a living, organic material. Motifs and variations shift almost imperceptibly, stretch and transform until all sense of time dissolves. The concert becomes something deeply physical: we listen, drift, perhaps even fall asleep, carried by notes working quietly within us.

Conceived as an all-night vigil, the performance invites audiences to come and go freely, to experience the piano differently. A rare, almost meditative immersion where minimalism reveals its full emotional power. “I’ve reached an age,” the artist reflects, “where I accept that what I seek in music is emotion. The strongest moments of my life as a musician are those in which I myself am moved. I do not try to escape that emotion, even if it must be controlled: it is what gives truth to interpretation.”

Information and programme

Audiences may join the performance during the 10:00, midnight and 02:00 sessions.
No entry will be permitted after 02:00.
You are free to leave at any time.

Cushions will be available on site. For a more comfortable night, you are warmly encouraged to come prepared (pillows, sleeping bags, favourite blankets and other cosy essentials are welcome, within reason).

The bar will remain open throughout the night, right through to breakfast.

22:00: Part 1

Philip Glass: The complete, Études

00:00: Part 2

Frederic Rzewski: Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues
Aphex Twin: Avril 14th
Alan Hovhaness: Two Ghazals, Op. 36; Dance Ghazal, Op. 37a
Aphex Twin: Jynweythek Ylow
Erik Satie: Gymnopédie n° 1
Moondog: Bird’s Lament ; Elf Dance
Alvin Curran: For Cornelius
Moondog: Chaconne; Pastoral; Verden 782 

02:00: Part 3

Moondog: Vercingétorix: Marche funèbre
Simeon ten Holt: Canto Ostinato
Aphex Twin: Petiatil Cx Htdui
Erik Satie: Gnossienne n° 7
Meredith Monk: Railroad (Travel Song)
Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou: Mother’s Love
Philip Glass: Wichita Vortex Sutra
Meredith Monk: Paris
Erik Satie: Gymnopédie n° 2

04:00: Part 4

Brian Eno: By This River
Dominique Lawalrée: La Maison des 5 éléments
Philip Glass: Mad Rush
Dominique Lawalrée: Listen to the Quiet Voice
John Cage: All Sides of the Small Stone for Erik Satie and (Secretly Given to Jim Tenney as a Koan) (transc. F. M.)
Frédéric Lagnau: Wind Mosaics
Philip Glass: Metamorphosis
Erik Satie: Gymnopédie n° 3
Sebastian Gandera: Quand Natalia peint; Chryséléphantines; Une nuit avec Cioran; Le Dialogue des joueurs de cartes
John Cage: In a Landscape
François Mardirossian: Nocturnes

06:00: End