On January 29, 2008, WNYC’s RadioLab focused on Départs, David Lang’s composition for Salle des Departs — where families go to say goodbye to their loved ones at Hospital Raymond Poincare in Garches, France. This unique space was designed by Italian artist Ettore Spalletti in 2003; it also contains a musical soundcape by British artist Scanner (aka Robin Rimbaud), which you can listen to at the end of this blog.

According to a 2003 report from the BBC, Hospital Raymond Poincare is famous for treating road injury victims. Every year 450 deceased people pass through its morgue, and after 40 years of conducting autopsies and talking to bereaved families, chief pathologist Professor Michel Durigon decided it was time to create a Salle des Departs that did not include the traditional red carpet and lugubrious background sound.

Spalletti’s azure blue Salle des Departs was the catalyst for Scanner’s composition, for he “found himself moved beyond all expectation by the project. His brief was daunting, but Durigon felt that the hospital needed an artist whose sensibility would be a source of sustenance to mourners, help them through their pain and suffering, and fully respect the memory of the deceased.

It was this last thought which triggered a painful series of memories for Scanner. As a teenager, he lost his father in a terrible motorcycle accident. The death was a blow which left his family unable to deal with the magnitude of the loss and of their own suffering. This lack of formal mourning came back to haunt him when he met Michel Durigon. Fate has presented him with a unique opportunity to mourn his own father’s death at last, by using his gift of music to help ease the pain of other bereaved families.”

The RadioLab program is available for audition. Listen to Scanner’s Channel of Flight (18′08”) and David Lang’s Départs (18′14″) [Real Player required].