This little cantata is above all a love song (a delicate, passionate, tormented and spiritual love), written from some extracts from poems by the Armenian poet Sayat-Nova (1712-1795). But it's also a tribute to the Armenian culture : besides the verse by Sayat-Nova, we can list the use of a duduk (a typical Armenian double-reed instrument), some kinds of traditional pedal-tones played by the strings (to accompany the duduk or the voice) or the use of modality.
The unity of the cantata is based on a theme (the theme of the beloved woman) that returns periodically to dialogue with the poet's voice like a sort of Berlioz's idée fixe. The musical language is intended to be simple and euphonious and yet it calls on various resources according to the different atmospheres of the text : predominant modality, non-functional tonality but also atonality. Duduk may be replaced by an English horn (or a clarinet) depending on the circumstances.
- Prélude (02'00'')
- L'inégalée (03'05'')
- Tourments (02'05'')
- Prière (03'00)