French composer Pierre Thilloy, who is in Turkmenistan to collect material for a musical composition about our country, met with students of the French Institute in Ashgabat.
For people interested in the culture and history of France, a conversation with a creative representative of this country was a great opportunity to improve their knowledge in language practice. Therefore, as expected, they immediately bombarded Pierre with questions.
Answering them, Pierre Thilloy said that he grew up in a family of architects and had never thought about music, dreaming of becoming an astronaut since childhood. However, when he was young, like most of his peers, he became interested in rock music and began to catch up on his music education. He was not just a performer, he wrote music. And he took the opportunity to present to the audience an audio recording of his early work in this style.
- But soon I realized that only a limited number of people like rock music, and the majority prefer melodic music rather than noisy, disorderly sounds. I myself belong to that majority.
- How did you get the idea to write music about Turkmenistan?
- I travel a lot with tours around the world. One day, I heard a Turkmen musician playing the dutar at one of the international competitions. I was fascinated. The dutar sounded as if it was talking to the musician. I imagined a vast desert and a caravan driver brightening up his loneliness by playing this instrument that had become a good companion for him. And I was eager to write about it.
I really like to study the cultures of different peoples. Having been to Brazil, I wrote the "Brasiliana " Concerto. Through books, I got to know the Sufi Jaloliddin Rumi and wrote a piece of music in honor of this man who lived in the Middle Ages (he demonstrated a fragment from this work to the audience).
- The music about Rumi is impressive, and how do you imagine writing music about our country?
- Something between the adventures of the Three Musketeers and the Gorkut Ata epics. (The answer surprised everyone. However, what would you expect from a composer who grew up on the examples of Alexandre Dumas' brave heroes and was acquainted with the legends of ancient epics? A fairytale story in music!)
- When can we hear your new work?
- I plan to complete it by the end of the year, by November.
- What is your hobby?
- I have two hobbies in life: music and cooking. Both of my hobbies bring pleasure to me and people around me. Many of my dishes require hours of processing, and I do not spare any time to prepare them.
- What of the Turkmen dishes did you like most of all?
- Plov.
- During a few days of your stay in our country, you managed to get acquainted with the main features of our life. We look forward to your work, which we hope will enrich our culture.
- I hope so, too.
