French electronic music pioneer Rone, winner of Cesar and Cannes Film Festival awards for best film score, will take the listener on a cinematic adventure with the London Contemporary Orchestra at the Barbican on Sunday 10 March, following two sold-out concerts at the Paris Philharmonie. “There are no particular messages, it’s all about emotions, says Rone. “The story is the one that the listener tells themselves as they are carried away by the music.”
‘R.one’ was originally supposed to be a playful abbreviation of Erwan Castex’s (b. 1980) first name, but as a graphic designer forgot a dot when making his first gig poster, ‘Rone’ became the alias of the French electronic music producer and composer. Renowned for international hits such as Parade and Bye Bye Macadam, Rone has been in constant pursuit of making innovative, meaningful music and combining it with other artforms. He has collaborated with a broad range of distinguished creatives, such as writer Alain Damasio, photographer Stéphane Couturier and the contemporary dance collective (La)Horde.
Before being acknowledged as a major artist of the French electronic scene, Rone was studying to become a film maker. Following the natural progression of his career, he has composed the score for several critically acclaimed movies and received prestigious awards for his music, including the Cesar award for best film score for both Night Ride (2020) and Paris, 13th District (2021). His ability to build narrative and capture scenery is strikingly evident in his music. Rone’s writing conjures vivid pictures, characters and stories for the listener to interpret and put into the context of their own lives. To the soundtrack of Rone’s musical narrative, reality becomes a meticulously scripted chain of events moving in slow motion.
Initially, the symphony orchestra seemed an untameable beast in the eyes of the self-taught composer, “I felt an inferiority complex in relation to scholarly music,” says Rone. But when joining forces with composer and orchestrator Romain Allender, Rone was persuaded to venture out on the journey of L(oo)ping, commissioned by Auditorium-Orchestre National de Lyon.
Producer Marc Cardonnel ignited the spark after discovering Rone’s inventive sound world and seemingly endless potential for collaboration. ”I kept asking until he finally said yes” says Cardonnel, “Collaborating with an incredible orchestrator, truly enthusiastic about his music, Rone felt ready to accept the invitation. And thus L(oo)ping was premiered in Lyon in 2021.”
On Cardonnel’s recommendation, Bryn Ormrod, Music Programmer of the Barbican Centre in London, went to hear the concert and was, in his own words, “blown away by it”. When asked what drew him to Rone’s music, Ormrod describes how ”the acoustic and electronic elements compliment, accentuate and contrast one another. The arrangements are through-composed, they capture and properly make use of the full potential of the orchestra”, adding with a smile that ”the crowd was just going crazy”. Ormrod instantly knew he wanted to bring the L(oo)ping experience to London, the performance at the Barbican will be its UK premiere as well as Rone’s first major concert in the UK.
Conducted by Robert Ames, London Contemporary Orchestra are excitedly welcoming the challenges of L(oo)ping as part of their close affiliation with The Barbican. Ames refers to the relationship between the orchestra and the electronics as a “perfectly balanced blend of the two sound worlds”, coming together with equal strength and beauty to tell the story of Rone’s compositions. The LCO are indeed merging into one with Rone’s dazzling acrobatics through Romain Allender’s cinematic arrangements. With around fifty film scores credited to him, including Grand Budapest Hotel and Shape of Water, Allender has brought new colour and life into Rone’s compositions. Reflecting on the experience of having the orchestra playing his music originally composed for smaller ensembles, Rone says ”I have the strange and rather pleasant sensation of taking a step back from my work and rediscovering my compositions, taking them further, elsewhere… And that’s exciting for me.”
Like so many contemporary artists, Rone has in recent years centered his work around crucial issues such as climate change, social challenges and global collapse. Talking about his opus Room with a View, created in collaboration with the (La)Horde dance collective, he explains that he was ”trying to tackle these themes through music and dance, because every artist has through their work, an incredible tool for raising awareness among his audience.” When asked what the story is behind his most recent project L(oo)ping, Rone says that “there are no particular messages, it’s all about emotions. The story is the one that the listener tells themselves as they are carried away by the music.”
