Introductory Notes

Baudelaire saw wine as one of humanity’s essential discoveries, capable of heightening the senses and expanding the intellect. But can wine truly be more than just a beverage—can it possess a soul?

The composition opens with a rhythmic introduction primarily entrusted to the udu drum, known in its traditional context as abang mbre, a jug that is struck and played. The choice of this particular instrument was made to evoke a sort of sound-resonance-affinity with the body-containers-guardians of wine. In this context, the udu—especially through its central hole—strongly recalls the sound of the necks of demijohns and wine bottles. The introduction is thus a percussive texture, further enriched by the tongue ram technique of the bass flute and the slap tongue of the bass clarinet, both mimicking the uncorking of bottles.

The strings act as an intrusive element, gradually intensifying the section and creating an increasingly tight rhythm. This sort of propitiatory dance serves to exorcise the wine in order to free its soul—the soprano.

The primary rhythmic cell is embedded in the title itself.

This instrumental exhortation leads to the recitation of the opening verse Un soir, l’âme du vin chantait dans les bouteilles, entrusted either to the conductor or to a male voice from the ensemble. From that point onward, the soul of the wine—represented by the soprano—will speak directly in the first person. This phrase contains the key iconographic elements of the composition: the evening, the perfect time for evocation; song, the linguistic expression of the wine’s soul through the soprano; and the bottles, the vessels in which the wine and its soul are confined.

A mysterious section follows, created by the multiphonics of the flute and clarinet, the vibraphone played with a double bass bow, and the strings with their swarming texture. This marks the first contact with the soul, through which the humanized wine transcends its dimension and takes on voice and spirit. The rainstick plays a dominant role here, symbolizing both the materialization of the soul (the soprano’s entrance) and its final exhalation (the soprano’s exit).

Overall, the choice of percussion instruments such as the water gourd, dry leaves, chekeré, etc., carries a primarily naturalistic significance, meant to draw attention to the wine/earth relationship.

In the final section, the chekeré—allegorically the antagonist of the udu, the instrument that summoned the soul—initiates its final fading. The chekeré is rubbed like an ancient genie’s lamp and then thrown into the air and caught again by the performer, taking on the role of the éternel Semeur (eternal sower).

As a kind of counter-exhortation, the dry leaves carry the soul of the wine away like a breath, and the rainstick exhales the soul as if it were the last gust of wind over the golden fields of autumn.

Giovanni Scapecchi