Snowdrops

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With Snowdrops, past and future coexist in the same sonic body. The duo formed by Ondes Martenot virtuoso and composer Christine Ott and electronic musician Mathieu Gabry creates a music that unfolds beyond stylistic borders, hovering between contemporary composition, experimental electronics and cinematic abstraction. This live recording from the Xciting Festival in Stuttgart captures Snowdrops at a moment of heightened presence. Christine Ott brings the Ondes Martenot — one of the earliest electronic instruments, invented in 1928 — into a living, breathing dialogue with modern signal processing and modular textures. Enhanced by Gabry’s keyboards and live electronics, the sound expands, bends and dissolves into a continuous field of resonance. The music moves like a slow cinematic drift: luminous drones, fragile melodic traces, sustained tones charged with tension and sensuality. It feels weightless yet physical, intimate yet vast — a sonic landscape where listening becomes a tactile experience

Christine Ott, classically trained and internationally recognized for her long collaboration with Yann Tiersen, as well as projects with Tindersticks and Oiseaux-Tempête, brings a singular compositional voice to Snowdrops. Her work has often been associated with composers such as Messiaen, Debussy and Satie, and with pioneering figures of electronic music including Laurie Spiegel, Wendy Carlos and Suzanne Ciani — echoes that resonate strongly throughout this performance.

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