Le Papillon and the Candle

Le Papillon and the Candle received third prize in the international Leonardo da Vinci’s Fables in Music competition. It was first performed at Bozar in Brussels by soprano Sara Barakat, baritone Jeysson Estrella and a string quartet led by Bruno Ispiola. The work was also performed on 26 September 2019 at the second European Education Summit at SQUARE Brussels, which brought together education ministers, teachers and other representatives from across Europe.

It is the only work in which I wrote the French and English texts myself. The words never appeared in my mind as spoken language; they arrived already sung, like music, so the usual transformation from text to sound felt unusually direct. Published by J.K. Mertz Edition in 2025, the composition now exists in four versions: for soprano, baritone and piano; with children’s choir added; with choir, soloists, string quartet and piano; and as an instrumental work for string quartet.