When I first arrived at Fontainebleau, I was already overwhelmed by my busy schedule and numerous projects, as well as the tight deadlines I had (or even had to create) in various cities. To relieve some of this pressure, I took walks around the château to get fresh air and organize my thoughts. While wandering through the château and spending time in the garden, I realized that I hadn’t truly listened to the sounds of nature in a long time.

Immediately, I felt deeply inspired by the natural environment of Fontainebleau. I closed my eyes and listened for hours, recognizing that the sounds of nature were, in fact, an orchestra of their own. As soon as I returned home from the château, I decided to abandon the piece I had been writing for the Fontainebleau school and instead compose something new—one that captured the orchestral sounds I had heard in nature.

To achieve this, I began collecting audio and video footage of Fontainebleau with my friend François Bibonne. I wanted to preserve the raw beauty of these natural sounds as much as possible, allowing the audience time to truly experience and appreciate them. However, in my attempt to convey the essence of nature in my piece, I came to an ironic realization: despite being part of nature, humans require extensive technology, electronics, and artificial sounds to even attempt to recreate or preserve it. This paradox fascinated me. I decided to incorporate it into my piece by using video monitors to guide and cue the instrumentalists—humans being conducted by nature itself.

In this composition, rhythmic figures and pitch materials remain fluid and flexible, mirroring the organic movement of nature. As I observed the natural world, I realized that everything—plants, animals, landscapes, and even humans—is inherently undefined and ever-changing. For example, we describe the moon as spherical and the sky as blue, yet neither is entirely accurate due to craters, atmospheric conditions, and shifts in time. Humans are the only creatures who attempt to simplify and define nature’s vast and intricate spectrum.

To avoid rigidity or over-definition in my composition, I based much of the notation on proportional relationships rather than fixed values. Through this approach, I aimed to reflect the fluidity and constant transformation inherent in nature itself.