Liquid Crystals, composed in 2023, seeks to convey through music the beauty of this mesomorphic state (from the Greek “of intermediate form”) of matter.

As early as the 19th century—when the three classical states of matter (solid, gas, liquid) were not yet fully defined—the idea of an intermediate state between solid and liquid had already emerged. In 1850, while studying myelin extracts, the biologists and botanists Buffon, Mettenheimer, and Virchow observed that the substance self-organized into layers as its concentration increased, producing strange iridescent reflections. The physicist Otto Lehmann was later regarded as the first to have systematically studied liquid crystals between 1872 and 1912.

In a letter from physicist Reinitzer to Lehmann in 1888, Reinitzer wrote:

“The cholesterol esters display phenomena so beautiful and so curious that I hope they will interest you as deeply as they do me […]. The substance has two melting points, if I may put it that way. Around 145.5 °C it melts and forms a cloudy yet fully fluid liquid, which suddenly becomes completely transparent around 178.5 °C. Upon cooling, blue and violet colors appear, which quickly fade, leaving the substance opaque (like milk) yet still fluid. Further cooling causes the blue and violet hues to reappear, and immediately after that, the substance solidifies into a white crystalline mass.”

Georges Friedel, a mineralogist and crystallographer, would later be the first to understand the structural origin of these new states of matter—distinct from crystalline solids and simple liquids—separated by phase transitions.

The piece opens with a crystalline, lucid theme that quickly grows in intensity and strength. This first section evokes the crystalline nature of liquid crystals: one might imagine, through glissandos and descending octaves, a giant crystal surging from the surface of the Earth. The purity and force of the crystal are followed by a second, freer, softer, and more fluid theme, evoking the elusive nature of a liquid. The two themes then overlap, like the layers observed in the smectic phase of certain liquid crystals. Through arpeggios, one can imagine light diffracting to form multicolored and sensuous shapes. It is from this duality—hardness and fluidity, opacity and clarity, transparency and iridescence—that the piece draws its inspiration.