BY THE SAINT LAWRENCE (PRÈS DU FLEUVE)
Instrumental - Composer Cut (no VO)
Original Concept Version with VO (public release)
By The Saint Lawrence (Près Du Fleuve) begins in a French Catholic church before looking outward toward Jacques Cartier and the vast landscape that would become New France. From there, the journey moves forward through centuries of French-Canadian life—its traditions, celebrations, cultural identity, and eventual emergence into the vibrant, inventive, and technological society of today.
The music travels through time alongside the imagery. Beginning with a Renaissance-era motif, it gradually transforms as the historical journey advances, drawing on French-Canadian and Celtic influences while evolving toward an increasingly contemporary instrumental world. The changing musical language becomes part of the storytelling, allowing the past to remain present even as the composition moves forward.
More than a portrait of a place, the work uses the Saint Lawrence as a thread connecting generations—exploring how culture can preserve its identity while continually changing with the world around it.
Instrumental. Composed, performed, and produced by Marc Soucy.