Florence BASCHET (born 1955). Autograph musical manuscript, Women, 2001; 56 pages 30 x 42,5 cm. New version for 2 women's voices and string quintet, elaborated from the first version of 1999 (where the women's voices were accompanied by ten instruments). Dedicated to Michaël Lévinas, it was premiered on November 8, 2001 at the Cité Universitaire by Roula Safar and Françoise Atlan, with the ensemble L'Itinéraire, conducted by Mark Foster. The instrumental ensemble includes; flute (and piccolo), clarinet, trombone, viola and cello, plus two Baschet resonant voice plates. The two women's voices, one in Hebrew, the other in Arabic, are treated as sung, spoken or sounded; the texts are by Palestinian Marmoud Darwich and Israeli Yitshac Laor. Duration of the work: 22 minutes. In the typed notice, it is indicated: "On stage, a symbolic space is created: two virtual circles, illuminated by two fixed chases, where two sound sculptures by the Baschet brothers are erected, sheets of sculpted and folded steel with voices, more than 2 metres high. These metal sheets have the particularity of creating a reverberating sound effect with a spectral distortion rich in harmonics, like the sound of brass instruments. The women sing in the centre of the folded sheets [photos attached]. Each of the sheets is placed on either side of the conductor, the centre of the sheet facing the audience, a little bit at an angle towards the conductor. [...] The first sounds heard are snatches of words, phonemes, percussive syllables, consonants made of noise from which first names and topographical names are formed, then fragments of psalms/suratas. The manuscript, in black pencil, incorporates 26 pages of the first version in photocopy with corrections and pastes. It is dated at the end "Paris 18 June 2001". The printed material is attached.