Des Canyons aux étoiles...

[2] The world premiere of this work took place on November 20, 1974, at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center,[3] with the Musica Aeterna Orchestra.

The title is followed by quotes:[5] C'est Lui qui guérit les cœurs brisés, et soigne leurs blessures; c'est Lui qui sait le nombre des étoiles, appelant chacune par son nom.Ô terre, ne couvre pas mon sang, et que mon cri ne trouve pas où se cacher!...It was originally composed for an entirely different purpose.

In March 1971, the young French composer Jean-Pierre Guézec died, and his composer-friends contributed a collection of short pieces for solo instruments in his memory.

The music is extraordinarily difficult for the performer, who must master a range of techniques: flutter-tonguing, closed notes, glissandos, and faintly-sounded oscillations produced with the keys half-closed.

Along the way we hear the calls of two birds—the Chinese thrush and the canyon wren—and at the end the music fades into silence on a recall of the faint oscillations.