Artistic Creation - Pyera - Forts en Lumière Festival

Name: Artistic Creation - Pyera - Forts en Lumière Festival
Start: 2026-07-03T00:00:00+0000
End: 2026-07-05T00:00:00+0000
Location: Fort Victor Emmanuel

Aussois

Pyéra, which means "Pierre" in the Savoyard dialect, is an acoustic and visual creation—a musical journey for audiences of all ages set in a contemplative world

Description

Pyéra draws inspiration from Savoyard “tapets”—slates hung from fruit trees that are struck by small pebbles as the wind blows.

It is the culmination of three years spent collecting more than 2,000 “singing” slates from the family’s land and sorting them by pitch and resonance quality. The resulting instrument has 12 notes, each with a beautiful variety of timbre. The stones retain the natural tuning given to them by nature, without any alteration. Arranged in a circle, they form a gathering place around which one naturally finds a spot, like a gathering from a bygone era.

Human contact with two pieces of native copper brings the creation to life. Through the skin-to-skin connection between participants, the music is played by “passing” the sounds along: Pyéra can be played alone, in pairs, or in a group. It is an invitation to come together and find joy in the experience, without pretension. Feeling is at the heart of this creation.

Pyéra is played. Lithophones were among the first instruments used by humans in prehistoric times; this creation is a modern version of that ancestral instrument.

The music ranges from minimalist melodies to frenetic breakbeat rhythms. The stones, much like mountain dwellers, have their own character and don’t always react as one might wish…
Each stone produces a unique note. The circular arrangement allows for the spatialization of each note. As a result, the music sounds different depending on where you stand around the installation.

A second lithophone is available and is played in the traditional manner, with sticks. It offers the chance to explore more traditional playing styles while also providing insight into the craftsmanship of stone instruments.

The installation is inspired by the random behavior of traditional tapets when no one is interacting with them. The stones ring on their own, as if the wind were gently playing them. The lights interact with the sound.