Les Lamentations du Phoenix evokes contrasting states associated with the legendary bird, moving between melancholy, anger and resignation within an impressionistic instrumental landscape. Conceived in a broad arch form, the work opens in a quiet misterioso atmosphere before three fortissimo eruptions abruptly fracture its stillness.

An expressive, melancholic theme introduced by the flute provides a recurring thread through the ensemble. Individual instruments frequently emerge as soloistic voices, while the piano occupies a central role and ultimately drives the music towards its most intense point: an expressive and virtuosic cadenza.

After this climax, the accumulated tension gradually recedes. The music returns poco a poco towards the quietness of the opening, not as restoration but as resignation, fading away in a final perdendosi.

This 2010–11 ensemble work later became the starting point for a substantial expansion and reworking. In 2017, its materials and dramatic trajectory were developed into Les Lamentations du Phoenix — orchestra version, a concerto for piano and orchestra in which the piano’s already central role assumes a fully concertante dimension.