Programme notes

The two miniatures are part of a cycle entitled “Kindergarten”, a collection of compositions that aims to explore and transfigure archetypes and cultural references of the world of children, transferring their complex social dynamics into the orchestra.

The first of the two pieces is inspired by "Ring a Ring o' Roses", a nursery rhyme, folk song, and playground game that we find adapted into several languages ​​around the world. A group of children forms a ring, chant an obsessive singsong, dances in a circle around one person, and then stoops or curtsies on the final line. The slowest child to perform this action may face a penalty or become the "rosie" (literally: rose tree, from the French rosier), taking their place in the center of the ring.

The second piece ironically explores the social dynamics of disobedience and the call to order, simulating an out-of-control cross-country race.