VIDICI magazine issue no. 112, September 2020, features a two-page spread on Yann. The article is available at the following link: VIDICI / 112 / Yann Besson.
Here are also some selected excerpts.
Luthier at heart and in his hands
Some skills seem exceptional, unattainable, more precious than others, but Yann Besson has a different perspective. A luthier based in Les Essards, his journey, his achievements, and his doubts offer food for thought on a life process and an approach to work that relegates technical skill and performance to a secondary position.
Pleasure and indulgence
At the CormeRoyal music school, there was no mandolin. Yann recalls: "At 9 years old, I chose the violin, perhaps because the teacher had chocolates to hand out; you should never ignore your intuitive choices." From that moment on, for four years, he played constantly, never losing focus, but without really studying, for the sole and intense pleasure of producing that sound that vibrated beneath his chin and gave him physical emotions.
A story of trust
His request at age 13 to enter the violin-making school in Mirecourt raised the issue of distance, which was quickly resolved: they would all move together to the Vosges.
“What wonderful faith my parents had in my teenage ambition! I hope to be able to do the same with my own children,” says the now father. After five years of apprenticeship in the heart of French violin making, the young professional flew to London.
Seven years restoring instruments and starting to make his own, and then the return to France in 2002, to a family home where he set up his workshop.
Amplify consciousness and sound
Since pleasure comes from the sound produced by the violin, Yann's challenge is to make it more powerful: "The craft of lutherie taught me how to amplify the sound by playing on the mechanical deformation of the strings. But to improve both the acoustics and the aesthetics, several parameters interact with each other. When I make a viola or a cello, I start by telling myself that I'm going to succeed, then that I'm going to save it, and finally that I'm going to finish it. The series of choices made always moves away from the ideal instrument… which doesn't exist, but as I understand the interactions better and better, I'm no longer just going by feeling, I act consciously and I'm always searching."
Unattainable perfection
Quest, hope, utopia? Yann Besson seeks to understand how it works, experiments, starts again. Spruce, maple, ebony: these pieces of wood that he cuts, glues, planes, scrapes, files, and adjusts become, in the luthier's hands, high-quality violas and cellos. Of the hundred or so instruments he has made, he retains: "It is important to accept not knowing; doubt allows us to search."
Humility and conviction
Because he was allowed to choose, the child was able to turn his interest into a fulfilling career. The professional emphasizes: "There's no such thing as a bad job. When food and drink are guaranteed, if someone has an interest in something, recognizes it within themselves, and finds the courage to delve into it, then they can only find satisfaction, develop a network around them, and in the long run, have a job to show for it."
Lydia Labrue
