Requiem L’Amour-propre

written for The Cortona Sessions for New Music

premiered July 30, 2025 – Akoesticum (Ede, Netherlands)

Requiem L’Amour-propre takes inspiration from the Genevan enlightenment philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) and his understanding of self-esteem. Rosseau posits that self-esteem or self-love comes from two sources: the approval of others (French: amour-propre; literally ‘ego’ or ‘self-love’) and the individual’s feelings about themself (French: amour de soi; literally ‘self-love’). According to Rosseau, amour de soi has always been present in humanity, for it is the natural sentiment, experienced by all living things, of survival and existence. Amour-propre represents its artificial counterpart, created with the rise of interpersonal relationships and societies. As such, amour-propre relies on comparing oneself to others and thus derives existential worth from doing so. Requiem L’Amour-propre is written as an abbreviated mass of the dead in remembrance of Rosseau’s amour-propre — as the death of amour-propre facilitates liberation.

duration: ~11:00