A PERFUME, SOME MUSIC 「香水、音楽。」

A PERFUME, SOME MUSIC 「香水、音楽。」

This concept—A Perfume, Some Music—was a first, this Friday, May 23, 2025, in Versailles.

The irrepressible desire of a music-loving perfumer to weave connections between music and fragrance.

Between music pieces and a perfume: Lilith, héroïne sombre.

A Perfume, Some Music was the first part of an evening where three musical works were paired with olfactory notes—specific accords from the perfume’s structure, presented on white perfumer’s blotters.

Each selected piece accompanied accords evoking the most volatile notes of the perfume, its heart notes, and its lingering trail.

The Medusa accord was presented alongside Clair de Lune by Claude Debussy.

“Tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa) 月下香 in Japanese

means the flower gives off its scent under the moonlight.”

It evokes a headspace between cardamom, a cool spice; an icy molecule, menthol; the green of narcissus absolute; and the heart of tuberose.

The Florilège accord was presented with Impromptu No. 3 by Franz Schubert.

“…To the perfumer in me, it represents all flowers. To the man I am, it represents all women.”

A mid-range accord built like a floral bouquet, with a heart of tuberose at its epicenter.

It takes on the colors of other perfumery flowers.

Rose, jasmine, lily of the valley, ylang-ylang, and orange blossom compose this firework of nature and emotion.

The Milky Way accord was paired with Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2 by Frédéric Chopin.

It is one of the trail accords, composed with the presence of sandalwood, suave and milky notes that form this cosmic musky aura.

A final touch, black in color, was imbued with the full perfume composition.

Lilith is crafted as a soliflore, a fragrance centered around a single flower—around the heart of tuberose, my emblematic flower.

After a short intermission, the second part featured solo piano performances by Ayamé Ishise, winner of the 2022 Cortot Prize, who played three works:

• Piano Sonata No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22 by Robert Schumann

• Nocturne No. 6 in D-flat Major, Op. 63 by Gabriel Fauré

• Isolde’s Liebestod by Franz Liszt / Richard Wagner

Air is the carrier of both perfumes and music.

Olfactory memory is incredibly powerful.

Sometimes, music too will awaken perfume-spirits.

A third, improvised part unfolded between Ayamé and Yoko Levy Kobayashi, first second violin soloist of the Orchestre National d’Île-de-France, whom I had warmly invited to the evening—and who came accompanied by her violin.

Thanks to Marianne (an anagram of marraine, meaning godmother) and Arnaud for sponsoring this first performance of A Perfume, Some Music