The Great Rehearsals: When a Man Dedicates His Life to Music

"Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum", the work by Olivier Messiaen, was a commission by the Minister of Cultural Affairs André Malraux and was to be performed on the 20 June 1965 at Chartres Cathedral, in the presence of President Charles de Gaulle. This documentary takes place during the rehearsal on the prior day.

Filmed during rehearsals for the premiere of Stockhausen's monumental work Momente. The revealing rehearsal sequences are interspersed with Stockhausen speaking of his youth, work process and the genesis and meaning of Momente.

Edgard Varèse died on 6 November 1965, a few days before the filming of the rehearsal of his work "Déserts" which he had to attend.

French television documentary about Cecil Taylor.

In 1967, Visconti came to Algiers for the filming of The Stranger with Mastroianni and Anna Karina. Camus, during his lifetime, had always refused to allow one of his novels to be brought to the screen. His family made another decision. The filming of the film was experienced in Algiers, like a posthumous return of the writer to Algiers. During filming, a young filmmaker specializing in documentaries Gérard Patris attempts a report on the impact of the filming of The Stranger on the Algerians. Interspersed with sequences from the shooting of Visconti's film, he films Poncet, Maisonseul, Bénisti and Sénac, friends of Camus, in full discussions to situate Camus and his work in a sociological and historical context. “The idea is for us to show people, others, ourselves as if they could all be Meursault, or at least the witnesses concerned to his drama.”

Documentary about Polish-American pianist, Arthur Rubinstein.

The term caustic designates optically the envelope of light rays undergoing reflection or refraction on a curved and shiny surface.

Documentary about Jean Dubuffet

Filmed during rehearsals for the premiere of Stockhausen's monumental work Momente. The revealing rehearsal sequences are interspersed with Stockhausen speaking of his youth, work process and the genesis and meaning of Momente.

"Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum", the work by Olivier Messiaen, was a commission by the Minister of Cultural Affairs André Malraux and was to be performed on the 20 June 1965 at Chartres Cathedral, in the presence of President Charles de Gaulle. This documentary takes place during the rehearsal on the prior day.

French television documentary about Cecil Taylor.

The Fall of Icarus proposes the magnification by the camera of a concrete material, the simple sand placed on a flat screen illuminated from behind, to reveal the changes of form and the movements of the matter once in contact with the elements: water, fire, earth and air. Particular care has been taken in the correspondence between sound and image: the compositions of the image (colors, knots of density, movements) surprisingly find their equivalence on the sound level in the music of Mireille CHAMASS.

Edgard Varèse died on 6 November 1965, a few days before the filming of the rehearsal of his work "Déserts" which he had to attend.

A film about German painter Max Ernst made by Gérard Patris.

Between 1965-68, the composer Luc Ferrari collaborated with director Gérard Patris on a series of filmed intimate portraits of great musicians, 'Les Grandes Répétitions' (The Great Rehearsals). Created for the ORTF, and encouraged by its director Pierre Schaeffer, these remarkable films were shown on French TV. They are remarkable not only for their exceptional content, but also for the creative camera work, including dynamic hand-held shots and croppings, and the juxtaposition of music and talk. Olivier Messiaen: Et Expecto Resurrectionem Mortuorum; Karlheinz Stockhausen: Momente; Edgar Varèse: Hommage À Edgar Varèse; Hermann Scherchen: Quand Un Homme Consacre Sa Vie À La Musique; Cecil Taylor: Cecil Taylor À Paris.