Jacques Burtin (born 10 November 1955) is a French composer, writer, producer and filmmaker.
Biography
After studying Literature and Art at La Sorbonne (Paris), he was introduced to the kora by brother Dominique Fournier at the Abbey of Bec Hellouin (Normandy, France) and by brother Dominique Catta, composer and choirmaster of the Keur Moussa Monastery (Senegal). He began to compose for the kora, solo pieces as well as duets with Western instruments.
His works are inspired by poets like Grace Schulman and Christian Bobin, spiritual authors like St. John of the Cross or Etty Hillesum, writers like Georges Simenon or Hermann Hesse, painters like Henri Matisse or Jean-Michel Basquiat, or photographers like Nan Goldin or Diane Arbus. He collaborates with artists, dancers and poets and conceives interdisciplinary performances.
Jacques Burtin is also involved in improvised music and has given concerts based on improvisation with harpist Susan Allen,CD "Renaissance", 2007; six filmed improvisations may be seen at : French panflute player Jean-Claude Mara,Concert at the Cathedral of Corbeil-Essonnes (France), April 1, 1995, with Jacques Burtin, kora, Jean-Claude Mara, panflute, and Jean Dahais, organ. Jacques Burtin and Jean-Claude Mara also recorded the improvisation-based Cd Psalmodies in 1995. Japanese koto player Damien Harada,Japan Tour, 1998 (Tokyo, Kôbe, Kisarazu, Amagasaki, Tama, Kobushizawa); concerts in Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais Church (Paris), March 15, 1998, and March 13, 1999. Jacques Burtin and Damien Harada recorded several improvisations in the Cd L'Amour – Musiques pour Thérèse (1996). A kora and koto improvisation can also be heard in the Cd Le Jeu des Perles de Verre (in the 3 Cd Box Set Le Jour des merveilles published in 2009). and French saxophonist Tullia Morand.Concert in La Charlotte de l'Isle, Paris, February 12, 2010. Videos: Saxophone & Kora Improvisation: – 48 Faces: – Hot Couture :
In 1997, Jacques Burtin meets Susan Allen, harpist, professor of harp and improvisation at CalArts (California Institute of the Arts). From their meeting until Susan Allen's passing in 2015, they see each other on a regular basis to improvise, give performances and exchange on musical pedagogy. In 2007, they release the CD Renaissance. After the death of Susan Allen, Jacques Burtin pays tribute to the American harpist by creating a dedicated websiteRenaissance: a Tribute to Susan Allen: with unreleased testimonies, musical creations specially written by composers of all horizons and unpublished videos of their Paris sessions (harp and kora improvisations).
Between 2002 and 2012, Jacques Burtin gives seminars on Improvisation and Interdisciplinary Creation in the Faculty of Fine Arts School of the University of Basque Country, Bilbao, Spain, in collaboration with Spanish Choreographer Alicia Gómez Linares.
In 2004, he is invited by the Paul Verlaine University (Metz, France) to participate to the Colloque sur l'Art du Peu (Seminar on the Art of the Few): he gives a solo kora performance based on haikus and writes an essay: La Tentation du peu (The Temptation of the Few).
On 12 May 2006 his music is featured among the works of twelve composers from around the world in Sonic Channels, a concert hosted by the New School University and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.
Since 2006, Jacques Burtin also plays the gravi-kora and composes for this instrument. He gives kora and gravi-kora master classes and works on kora pedagogy.
Jacques Burtin writes, produces and directs poetic and experimental short films as well as documentaries on contemporary artists. His films What damns me saves me and The Dialogue of Shadows were screened at the Festival de Cannes in 2011 and 2012. The Child of La République was screened at the Bilbao Short Film Festival Zinebi in 2015.
Burtin is currently working on a multidisciplinary project based on the twenty-two Major Arcana of the Tarot of Marseille. An homage to his late colleague, harpist Susan Allen, this project explores the creative act via improvisation.
Musical works
1986 – Ballade de l'île d'Yeu, for solo kora 1988 – L'Annonce à Zacharie (The Announcement to Zacharias), for viola and koraFirst performance: Florian Wallez (viola) et Jacques Burtin (kora) in the Church of Notre-Dame-du-Travail, Paris, December 23, 1988. 1989 – Tant et tant d'amour (A Love so great, so deep), suite for flute and kora inspired by Georges Simenon's autobiography Mémoires intimes. 1989 – La Passion selon saint Jean (The Passion according to Saint John), oratorio for tenor, kora and two narratorsFirst performance: Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais Church, Paris, March 19, 1989. 1990 – Le Maître du Haut Château (The Man in the High Castle), suite for piano, kora, saxophone and synthesizers inspired by Philip K. Dick's novel. 1991 – Le Jeu des perles de verre (The Glass Bead Game), suite for flute, viola, guitar and three koras inspired by Hermann Hesse's novel. 1992 – Ave Maria for soprano a capellaFirst performance: Marie-Christine Nahon, Trinity Church, Paris, October 21, 1992 1993 – Les Nus bleus (Blue Nudes), suite for solo flute inspired by the paper cutouts of Henri MatisseJacques Burtin composed two other works inspired by Matisse : Tristesse du Roi (Sorrow of the King), for recorder and kora, and La Porte-fenêtre ouverte (French Window at Collioure), for solo ten-string guitar. 1996 – L'Amour – Musiques pour Thérèse (Love – Music for Thérèse), suite for kora, recorder, cello and kotoLove – Music for Thérèse was inspired by the life and writings of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. 1997 – Music for Michael Lonsdale's play Vous m'appellerez Petite ThérèseVous m'appellerez Petite Thérèse (You shall call me Little Thérèse), written by Michael Lonsdale, inspired by the life of Sainte Thérèse de Lisieux, directed by Michael Lonsdale, with Lila Redouane, Françoise Thuriès and Michael Lonsdale, Palais des Congrès, Paris, 1997, and Crypte Saint Sulpice, Paris, 1997–1998. 1998 – La Traversée de Bilbao, dedicated to Nan Goldin, for voice, saxophone and tapes. 1998 – Music for Benoît Lardières's play Les sept vies d'Homère Petitbois (The Seven lives of Homère Petitbois)Les sept vies d'Homère Petitbois with Bernard Métraux and Jacques Burtin (kora, piano), directed by Paul Borne, Maison de la Poésie, Paris, 1998, and Théâtre des Roches, Montreuil, 1999. 1999 – Où est ton coeur, est la musique (Where is your Heart, is Music), for accordion and koraFirst performance: Iñaki Alberdi (accordion) and Jacques Burtin (kora), Rentería, Spain, October 28, 1999. 2001 – Eloge de la Lumière (Praise for the Light) for kora, violin and electric guitarFirst performance: Iñigo Coto (violin) and Jacques Burtin (kora, electric guitar) at the Centro Juan Antxieta, Bilbao, March 15, 2001. Eloge de la Lumière was inspired by the works of Eduardo Chillida. 2001 – Apuntes de Eduardo Chillida (Eduardo Chillida's Notes), for a violin, a kora, a dancer and a narratorApuntes de Eduardo Chillida – A Poetic, Musical and Choreographic Meditation on the Creative Act, texts by Eduardo Chillida and Saint Teresa of Ávila, conception and music by Jacques Burtin, was first performed in the Lecture Hall of the Universidad de Deusto (Bilbao), May 17, 2001, by Roberto Bienzobas (narrator), Iñigo Coto (violin), Jacques Burtin (kora) and Alicia Gómez Linares (dancer). 2001 – Six chants syldaves (Six Syldavian Songs), for cello and kora 2002 – Music for Algis Arlauskas's film Carta a mi madre (A Letter to my Mother)Carta a mi madre won the Tiflos Price of Journalism 2003 for the best documentary film on Spanish National Television, the Stalker Price 2004 at the Stalker International Film Festival for Human Rights Watch (Moscow) and the 2004 Grand Prix at the International Disability Film Festival "Breaking Down Barriers". 2002 – Lumière du monde (Light of the World), improvised suite for synthesizer, sampler and a Tibetan bellLumière du monde was dedicated to painter Alexandre Hollan. It was performed by Jacques Burtin at the Galerie Vieille du Temple, Paris, May 15, 2002. Jacques Burtin and Alexandre Hollan met at the beginning of the nineties. Jacques Burtin gave several concerts along the years at the painter exhibitions, and he directed a documentary on Alexandre Hollan: L'autre regard (The Other View). 2003 – Nouveaux chants syldaves (New Syldavian Songs) for viola and kora 2004 – Your Shadow Will Shine – Requiem Notebook, electroacoustic music – a Tribute to Victims and Survivors of 9/11 and other terrorist attacksThe first version of this work accompanied Maria Jesús Cueto’s installation El Palacio de Medusa (Castello della Rocca di San Giorgio, Lombardy, July 2004), a work the Spanish artist dedicated to the victims of 3/11 Madrid bombings. Your Shadow Will Shine – Requiem Notebook was written in four languages (Spanish, French, English and Japanese). It has six movements: 1. Requiem (The Words / Las Palabras) – 2. Dies irae (The Seconds / Los Segundos) – 3. Liber scriptus (Wandering Dreams / Sueños sin rumbo) – 4. Rex tremendae (Mad Wind / Viento loco) – 5. Confutatis (Powder and Love / La Pólvora y el Amor) – 6. Lux aeterna (The Promise / La Promesa). Written, produced and edited by Jacques Burtin. With the voices of Mercedes Albaina, Maëlise Blosse, Kô Iwatsu, Junko Minobe, Françoise Murillo and Jacques Burtin. Requiem for a child voice performed by Lucía Gandarias. Sounds of 3/11 Madrid provided by TVE (Spanish National Broadcasting). Texts by Bruno Dellinger, Miguel Hernández, Jacques Burtin, and Japanese poets. 2006 – One Thousand Sources, for solo kora,First performance: New York, May 12, 2006, at Sonic Channels, a concert hosted by the New School University and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. Program: ; Jacques Burtin playing One Thousand Sources: dedicated to Susan Allen (musician). 2006 – Days of Wonder, suite for solo kora, inspired by the Book of Poems by Grace SchulmanDays of Wonder: New and Selected Poems. Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin. 2002. . 2007 – L'Or jeté au fleuve (Gold thrown into the River), Kora Sonata No.1, in memory of Yves Klein 2007 – Music soundtrack for seven art documentaries by Vincent Gille (on the works of Max Ernst, Joan Miró, Sophie Calle, Paul Klee, the Menil Collection...)These are the seven films : L'Amnésie (on a photograph by Sophie Calle): ; Danseuse(s) espagnole(s) (on Joan Miró's works): ; Le jardin des merveilles (dedicated to Paul Klee) : ; Les Yeux dans les ailes des anges (on the Romanesque paintings of the Catalan Museum of Art of Barcelona: ; Donner un visage au désespoir (on the photographs of Baudelaire, Nerval et Rimbaud) : ; Dans les forêts profondes (about Max Ernst) : ; La Rime et la raison (about the Menil Collection): 2008 – Le Chant de la Forêt (The Song of the Forest), suite for kora, gravi-kora, flute and viola 2010 – Une clarté, une voix, un parfum... (A Brightness, A Voice, A Perfume...), Kora Sonata No 2Une clarté, une voix, un parfum... was performed at the Collège des Bernardins, Paris, October 2, 2010, as a musical counterpoint to the reading of Saint Augustin's Confessions by Sapho and Charles Gonzalès. Program: – Photos: 2013 – L'Enfance de l'Art, Suite for Gravi-kora n°1 2015 – Le Silence après la pluie, Suite for Kora n°6, inspired by the work of Christian Bobin and dedicated to him 2017 – Lazarus, for piano and soprano
Poetic, experimental and documentary films
1977 : L'Innocence du grand large, an experimental film written, produced and directed by Jacques Burtin and Vincent Gille, Super 8, 20'20 1977 : Corps à corps, an experimental film written, produced and directed by Jacques Burtin and Bruno Montpied, Super 8, 12mn 1979 : Préface, an experimental film written, produced and directed by Jacques Burtin, Super 8, 41mn 1981 : Les Vacances de Platon, an experimental film written, produced and directed by Jacques Burtin and Vincent Gille, Super 8, 15mn