Water Music exemplifies the approach favoured by Yves Daoust: the release of all the musicality implicitly contained in the sounds of our environment. This process is drawn on the notion that there are two different types of auditory perception. The first is the perception of sound, in general, as a source of information on reality which characterizes our natural auditory reflexes vis-à-vis all sounds, especially those related to our everyday life. The second is the more specific perception of the aesthetic dimensions of sounds as when we listen to music. These two mechanisms are not necessarily distinct and incompatible; on the contrary, it might be said that they complement one another during all listening-related activities. Yves Daoust pushes this logic to the extreme, revelling in this perceptual ambiguity with great virtuosity. Sometimes the listener hears familiar sounds treated as if they were those of a musical instrument, and sometimes he perceives instrumental timbres which seem to have been metamorphosed into sounds of the environment. Thus, we are confronted with a new vision of sounds which relentessly calls into question our old perceptual habits.”
-François Guérin, Montréal, 1988

1. Impromptu

2. Il était une fois…(conte sans paroles)

3. Mi Bémol

4. Résonances

5. Water Music

6. Fantaisie