(b. 30 September 1972, Rouen).
French composer, now resident in Austria, of mostly stage, chamber, choral, and vocal works that have been performed in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe.
Prof. Sarhan studied cello with Xavier Gagnepain at the Conservatoire à rayonnement régional de Boulogne-Billancourt from 1985–93 and aesthetics and music history with Brigitte François-Sappey at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris from 1992–94, where he later studied analysis with Alain Louvier from 1996–99 and composition with Guy Reibel from 1996–2000. He also attended the Cursus Annuel de Composition et Informatique Musicale at IRCAM in Paris in 1997–98, as well as seminars on poetics by Jacques Roubaud at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris from 1997–2001.
His music has been performed in Austria, Azerbaijan, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Kyrgyzstan, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, the UK, and the USA.
He has also held other posts. He has written numerous articles on contemporary music, as well as the book Histoire de la Musique (2002, Flammarion). As a stage director and visual artist, he has served as artistic director of the multimedia collective vocal–instrumental ensemble CRWTH since 2000.
He taught counterpoint, harmony, rhythm, space, and text and music relationships at IRCAM from 1998–2002 and analysis, composition and new music at the Université Strasbourg-II from 1999–2014. He then taught composition at the Universität der Künste Berlin from 2014–19. He has taught as Professor für Komposition at the Anton Bruckner Privatuniversität in Linz since 2024.
He lived in the Czech Republic and Germany and has lived in Austria since 2024.
In addition to the works listed below, he has made several films.
SELECT LIST OF WORKS
STAGE:
Nervure (ballet, choreography by Laurence Vandemotaele), clarinet, violin, viola, cello, percussion, 1993–94
Contraintes (musical spectacle, texts by Jacques Roubaud, Jacques Jouet, Raymond Queneau, Samuel Beckett), 2 female actors, 1999–2000 (collaboration with Wilfried Wendling)
Anatole et Vélocipède (Esquisse pour la Fleur Inverse No. 4) (operetta, libretto by the composer, Jacques Roubaud), soprano, alto, tenor, bass, 16 mixed voices, flute, clarinet, French horn, trumpet, trombone, violin, viola, cello, piano, 3 percussion, 2000 (one section may be performed separately as a concert work: Nombres et insultes)
LE GrandCRWTH (spectacle, text by Bertrand Raynaud, choreography by Anja Hempel), tenor, harp (+ voice), fixed media (10 tracks), live electronics, 2001–02
pas_de_direction (sound installation, choreography by François Raffinot), fixed media, visual art (by Magali Desbazeille), 2002
Kyrielle du sentiment des choses (chamber opera, libretto by Jacques Roubaud), 5 mixed voices, prepared piano, fixed media (6 tracks), live electronics, 2002–03
Les demoiselles du Docteur Krü (choreography by Anja Hempel), fixed media, 2003
Les articulations de la reine (théâtre de marionettes musical, text by Bertrand Raynaud, choreography by Anja Hempel), male speaker, French horn, guitar, accordion, percussion, 2004
Set (choreography by François Raffinot), fixed media, 2005
L'Nfer, un point de détail (installation, text by the composer), baritone–speaker, amplified ensemble (clarinet [+ bass clarinet], trumpet [+ B-flat trumpet, piccolo trumpet, slide trumpet], guitar [+ electric guitar], Stroh violin, bass guitar, prepared piano [+ synthesizer], drum kit [+ vibraphone]), 2005–06
Telegrams from the Nose (music-theatre work, texts by the composer, William Kentridge, after Daniil Kharms), male speaker, 5 players, 2007 (two of its sections may be performed separately as concert works: Amitié, cello; Un chevalier, Stroh violin/violin)
A King, Lear (opéra de chambre, libretto by Jacques Roubaud, after William Shakespeare), soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone, male speaker, percussion, 2 violins, viola, cello, 2005–09
Les leçons du professeur Glaçon (series of music-theatre performances, text by the composer), c. 2009 (each of its five sections may be performed separately: la guitare automatique; la vie des bêtes; Hagiographie; le serpent à cordes; the life and work of Mario Bossi)
HOME WORK, saxophone, trombone, electric guitar, bass guitar, synthesizer, percussion, film (by the composer), 2007–10
Les champs magnétiques de Jan Švankmajer (théâtre musical), clarinet, violin, double bass, piano, percussion, 4 films (by Jan Švankmajer), 2010–12
Entre chou et loup (spectacle pour enfants; both musicians wear costumes), flute, cello, 2012 (collaboration with Frédéric Aurier, Joëlle Léandre, Sylvain Lemêtre, Albert Marcœur, Ève Risser)
Wandering Rocks (installation–performance), 4 electric guitars, 24 loudspeakers, 2013
The Last Lighthouse Keepers (spectacle), male actor, noisemaker, piano, percussion, live electronics, 2013
Encyclopædia (music-theatre work), 2008–14
Lâchez tout ! (spectacle, text by the composer, adapted by Wannes Gyselinck), noisemakers, 5 players, fixed media, live electronics, film (by the composer, Pascal Poissonnier), 2013–14
Zentral Park, male speaker, 9 players, live electronics, film (by the composer), 2014
NO SAY NO WAY (performance), female actor, 2014
Éphémère glacé (happening déambulatoire), 2014
Éphémère enchaîné, male speaker, 10 players, live electronics, film, 2014
La philosophie dans le boudoir (théâtre musical, after the Marquis de Sade, Ulrike Meinhof), 6 mixed voices, 2014–15
Commodity Music (music-theatre work), 4 electric guitars, fixed media, film, 2015
BUG (quatuor à corps), 2 female actors, 2 male actors, 2016 (collaboration with Jean-Luc Fafchamps, Daniele Ghisi)
Finger and Mouth, electronic keyboard, film, 2017
One Shot Train (music-theatre work), 5 players, 2017
Nacht bis Acht (music-theatre work for children), 2019
The end of the story, 2 players, film, 2019
The Right Ear (music-theatre work), 6 players, film, 2020
ORCHESTRAL:
PAS (Esquisse pour la Fleur Inverse No. 6), small orchestra (13 players), 1998–2000
The Face in the Ashes, large orchestra (12 winds, 12 brass, harp, piano, timpani, 3 percussion, 44 strings), 2001
Cinq pièces, viola, orchestra (8 winds, 11 brass, harp, piano [+ celesta], timpani, 2 percussion, 30 strings), 2004–05
Dibbuk, large orchestra, 2010
Petit Dibbuk, small orchestra (4 winds, 2 French horns, 20 strings), 2011
CHAMBER MUSIC:
Esquisse pour la Fleur Inverse No. 3, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion, 1999
Hell (a small detail), amplified bass clarinet, amplified guitar, amplified violin, 2000 (also version for fixed media [2 tracks], 2001)
La boucle, cello, piano, 2001
Sir William Byrd's musical humors (Esquisse pour la Fleur Inverse No. 7), double bass, harpsichord, percussion, 2001 (one section may be performed separately: In Respite [also version for piano])
Bobok, string quartet, 2002–03
Petit Bobok, violin, cello, 2004
KLZMR, alto saxophone, live electronics, 2006
Bobok quintette, 2 violins, viola, 2 cellos, 2006
Missing, electric guitar, Stroh violin, double bass, piano, percussion, fixed media, 2006
Pour 4 violoncelles, male speaker ad libitum, 4 cellos, 2006
The name of the song (text by Lewis Carroll), speaker (+ sampler), violin (+ voice), viola, cello, piano (+ Rhodes piano), percussion, live electronics, 2007
Espoir, guitar, 2007
Amitié, cello, 2007 (section of Telegrams from the Nose; may be performed separately as a concert work)
Un chevalier, Stroh violin/violin, 2007 (section of Telegrams from the Nose; may be performed separately as a concert work)
Deluxe Coucou, violin, 2007 (also longer version for violin, ensemble [flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, cello, double bass, piano], 2007)
all i could remember, guitar, 2007
Oublié ! / Forgotten (violinist also speaks text by Daniil Kharms), violin, c. 2007
Home Work II (percussionist also speaks), body percussion, 2007–08
Étude no. 5, marimba (+ vibraphone), 2009
Étude no. 6, marimba, 2009
TALEA, 4 percussion, 2006–10
Observations sur les ombres accidentelles et les murmures colorés, cello, live electronics, 2010
Noémi Boutin, cello, 2010
I don't belong to your world (marimbist also speaks), prepared marimba, 2010, revised 2013
Scènes d'amour, ensemble, 2011
Bon pied bel œil, flute, Rhodes piano, live electronics, 2011
Cornemuse, bagpipes, 2012
Incendies (all three musicians also speak), flute, violin, cello, 2013
KLEIN, invented instruments (4 players), 2015
Talea 2, 11 players, live electronics, 2015
Potence à paratonnerre, 10 players, 2017
Analogy Fair (both percussionists also speak), 2 percussion, 2017
My Uselessness (electric guitarist also speaks), electric guitar, 2017
Talea 3, 5 players, 2017
Situations (35 pieces), 1–4 body percussion, 2007–20
CHORAL:
Such is life (text by Edward Lear), 4 mixed voices, 2000
Parfois, après tant d'années (text by Jacques Roubaud), 6 mixed voices, 2000
Nombres et insultes, 4 mixed voices, 2000 (section of Anatole et Vélocipède [Esquisse pour la Fleur Inverse No. 4]; may be performed separately as a concert work)
Rien, personne, une légère suffocation (text by Jacques Roubaud), 3 female voices, 2000
Manières (text by Jacques Roubaud), 2 female voices, 2001
Three Christmas Songs (text by the composer, after Tim Burton), 4 mixed voices, 2001
Oh, Nuncle (text by William Shakespeare), 4 mixed voices, 2003
Nuit sans date II (text by Jacques Roubaud), alto, mixed chorus, piano, 2 percussion, 2005
Don't give up! (madrigal), 4 mixed voices, 2006
Lear Summaries (text by Jacques Roubaud, after William Shakespeare), 4 mixed voices, 2005–07
VOCAL:
Nuit sans date (text by Jacques Roubaud), female voice, live electronics, 1998, revised 2000
Jours et nuits (text by Arthur Rimbaud), baritone, piano, 1999
CRWTH (text from the word "Geduld"), amplified soprano, amplified ensemble (flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello, piano, percussion), 2000
scène (text from the word "patience" in the language of whichever nation in which the piece is performed), bass, flute, trombone, tuba, cello, double bass, 2001
Wiigen=Lied, soprano, piano, 2003
28 janvier 2005, baritone, piano, 2005
Variations on 'Music for a while' by Henry Purcell, soprano, guitar, 2006
Testimony (text by Charles Reznikoff), male speaker, ensemble (guitar [+ electric guitar], violin [+ Stroh violin], cello, piano, synthesizer, percussion), small orchestra (piccolo [+ flute, alto flute], oboe [+ English horn], clarinet, bassoon [+ contrabassoon], French horn, cornet [+ 2 trumpets, bugle], trombone, tuba, harp, percussion, violin, viola, double bass [+ bass guitar]), live electronics, 2007
Lucy B, soprano/mezzo-soprano, 2 violins, viola, cello, 2010
PIANO:
Double No. 1, 1994
Ombre : Éloge inverse, 1998
Le calcul des ombres, 1999
In Respite, 2001 (version of section of Sir William Byrd's musical humors [Esquisse pour la Fleur Inverse No. 7])
Here it ended further, 2008
Here it ended even further (deux pièces), 2010
Ô piano (pianist also speaks), piano, fixed media, 2012
HARPSICHORD:
In Respite, 2001 (section of Sir William Byrd's musical humors [Esquisse pour la Fleur Inverse No. 7]; may be performed separately; also version for piano)
ELECTROACOUSTIC:
Hell (a small detail), fixed media (2 tracks), 2001 (version of chamber work)
Who um, fixed media (2 tracks), 2003
Talks Time Nothing (sound installation), 2007
Log book, fixed media, 2019–21
RADIO PRODUCTIONS:
Encyclopédie (text by Bertrand Raynaud), fixed media (2 tracks), 2003
L'abominable docteur Orloff (series of radiophonic sketches, text by the composer, after The Awful Dr. Orloff by Jesús Franco), male speaker, 5 players, c. 2008
Soleil fond sans fin, 2015
ARRANGEMENTS:
8 popular songs (18th-century France), violin, cello, harpsichord, 1996
Carmen (Georges Bizet), small orchestra (15 players), 1996–97
Over Maps from Love; formal aspects (Fredrik Österling), flute, viola, cello, vibraphone, 1999
Sports et divertissements (Erik Satie), flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion, 1999
Pirouette (folksong from France), child's voice, bass clarinet, guitar, violin, 2001
Sleep Dirt (Frank Zappa), string quartet, 2002
The Black Page (Frank Zappa), string quartet, 2002
Präludium Nr. 1 in C-dur from Das wohltemperierte Klavier, BWV 846 (Johann Sebastian Bach), piano, 2003
DISCOGRAPHY
Such is life; Oh, Nuncle. Vox Quartet (2003)
CRWTH; In Respite (version for piano); Bobok; Hell (a small detail) (original version); Sleep Dirt (Frank Zappa); Encyclopédie; Pirouette; Esquisse pour la Fleur Inverse No. 3; The Black Page (Frank Zappa). Tony Gray, piano; Rosamonde Quartet; CRWTH; Ensemble SIC (Zig-Zag Territoires: ZZT 040302, 2004)
Talks Time Nothing (excerpt); The name of the song. François Sarhan, speaker, sampler; ensemble recherche; Experimentalstudio des SWR, live electronics (NEOS: 10825, 2008) (SACD)
L'Nfer, un point de détail; L'abominable docteur Orloff. François Sarhan, speaker; Ictus (Sismal Records: SR007, 2012)
Scènes d'amour. ensemble recherche (WERGO: WER 6792 2, 2014)
Zentral Park. François Sarhan, speaker; Jugendensemble für Neue Musik des Landesmusikrats NRW; Experimentalstudio des SWR, live electronics (NEOS: 11522–24, 2015) (3 SACDs, DVD)
Wandering Rocks; Commodity Music. ZWERM (Alamuse: ALM 007, 2016)