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Jacques Lejeune

Fragments gourmands

Label: INA - GRM

Format: CD

Genre: Electronic

Out of stock

1999 release ; two mid-90s concrète pieces from lejeune - both based on brillet-savarin’s “greedy fragments” (the english version of lejeune’s exceedingly detailed / gross libretto is printed below en toto) & performed by daniel kientzy ...

delightfully wonky digital-era concrète, replete with bad “lounge” drum-machine beats & endless french-language insinuation(s) whose subtlety is lost on a part-time speaker such as myself ...
ina-grm press release...
“gourmet passages”
after brillat-savarin

animal tongues do not exceed the scope of their intelligence ; but the human tongue however, through its delicate texture, enrobed in its various membranes, heralds the sublime purpose for which it is destined. animals have limited tastes : some live on plants only, others will only eat grain foods ; others only eat flesh or blood. man on the other hand is omnivorous ; anything that can be eaten is subjected to his vast appetite. as soon as a succulent body passes his lips, it is confiscated forever, gases and juices all in one. closed lips prevent its return ; it is seized and crushed by the teeth; it is moistened by saliva ; it is mixed and turned by the tongue ; a suction movement pushes it towards the gullet ; and keenly sensed by smell on its way, it is precipitated into the stomach where it undergoes further change. the sequence to this perfection is that fondness of food is the prerogative of man.

various single or multiple circumstances can contribute to heightening thirst. heat increases thirst ; hence man's historic propensity to set up abode on the edge of rivers. physical work increases thirst; those who hire labour always to seek to replenish their labourers' strength by quenching their thirst. dancing increases thirst ; refreshing drinks have always been a part of dance gatherings. the pleasures of love increase thirst; hence the poetic descriptions of the various places inhabited by venus which never lack cool shade and twisting, twining, babbling rivers. a discerning palate is not unbecoming for the gentle sex. nothing is more pleasant than to see a pretty person appreciating her food ; her napkin is flatteringly arranged; one hand is rested upon the table ; the other raises elegantly cut, dainty morsels to her mouth ; her eyes are ashine, her lips glisten, and her conversation is pleasant ; each and every movement is made with that dash of flirtatiousness which women never fail to apply.

fondness of good food is flattering for beauty. artists and sculptors are well aware of this truth as they never depict those who abstain, such as misers and ascetics without showing the pallor of disease, the scragginess of destitution and the wrinkles of decrepitude. last and not least, fondness of good food has the deepest influence on the happiness of marital union. two food-loving spouses at least have one pleasant moment to share in the day; as even those who sleep apart, and there are a great number, at least eat at the same table; they not only talk of what they are eating, but also of what they have previously eaten and what they intend to eat.

gruel is a healthy food which calms the pangs of hunger, is easily digested but eaten alone is not very restorative. we divide gruel eaters into four categories : creatures of habit who eat it because their parents taught them to do so and hope to teach the same to their children ; those of little patience who, loathing idleness at table, have taken the habit of immediately devouring the first edible matter than presents itself ; those who are inattentive who, not having being blessed with the same zeal, rank everything that can be eaten on the same level; and gluttons who, seeking to conceal the size of their stomach, eagerly pour into it a first victim to allay the gastric fire consuming them which will serve as a base for the subsequent missives they intend to deliver to the same destination.

i firmly believe that the gallinaceous species was created solely to fill our larders and enrich our banquets. we have not contented ourselves with the qualities afforded by nature to the many members of this large family ; they were taken over by art which, on the pretext of bringing an improvement, has made martyrs of them; they are deprived of the means of reproducing themselves, they are kept in solitary confinement, they are force fed and they are led in this way to reaching a degree of stoutness for which they were not intended. it is true that it is with these abominable methods that they are given that fineness and succulence which make them the delight of our best tables. improved in this way, poultry is for cooking what a canvas is for an artist. it is served boiled, roast, fried, hot or cold, whole or in portions with or without sauce, boned, skinned, stuffed and always with the same unvarying success.

Details
Cat. number: INA e 5201
Year: 1970
Notes:

"Fragments gourmands" composed in 1995 for tape, voice & saxophones.
Adapted from Brillat-Savarin's "Physiologie du goût".
"L'eau primesautière" composed in 1993 for tape & soprano saxophone.
Comes in a Digipak.