Works » By Title » P » Pont Victoria (5:00 / 1995)

Pont Victoria was originally to be a prelude to a composition about the Victoria Bridge across the Saint Lawrence River at Montreal. This was the first bridge to cross the river and was once the longest bridge in the world. Construction cost a great many lives. It is a railroad bridge that has automobile lanes appended along the sides. The lanes are metal grates that make a buzz sound as cars pass. The sound resembles that of angry bees. This composition is a filtered and stretched mix of recordings made from below the bridge. Cars pass overhead. A freight train slowly creeps along. This is the last composition that the composer completed for many years. It is a dark, somber piece. At best, it is a composition that lost its direction as a prelude and drifted into a farewell into a prolonged silence. At worst, it hints at a leap off the bridge to disappear into the cold embrace of the powerful river. This was a time of profound difficulty and needed change.