This is the third and final CD in Hétu’s series of compositions about snow performed by her Ensemble Supermusique. It’s divided into four multi-part segments—La Neige, Jamais froid, Rafales, and Paysages—but there are overarching patterns here, a profound experience of a season, the Quebec landscape (“Chaque chute de neige est une exposition d’art unique”) and, above all, a sense of community. While Hétu is composer, lyricist, conductor, vocalist, and saxophonist, what comes through most strongly here is a sense of shared life. Sprinkled throughout are brief reminiscences about snow spoken by musicians, writers, and family. They mix with the strong improvisatory and textural contributions of saxophonist-flutist Jean Derome, trombonist Scott Thomson, accordionist Diane Labrosse, bassist Alexandre St-Onge, and drummer Pierre Tanguay to create the sense of a collective ceremony presided over by Hétu, the moods of which are deeply reflective—almost reverent—playful, and celebratory by turn. Hétu’s sense of collaboration extends even further to the inclusion of a Steve Lacy composition, an adaptation of the folk song “À la claire fontaine,” and a collection of Inuktitut words for snow. In its ever-shifting linguistic textures and evolving musical language, Récits de neige marks a rare intersection of composer, group, and subject.
