Just as the acid test of a new composition is whether it survives beyond its first performance, so the test of an outlandishly ambitious cycle of new music is whether it survives beyond the first composition. Using that acid test, Jean-luc Fafchamps Sufi Word cycle is the real thing. Back in 2012 I wrote enthusiastically about the first release by Sub Rosa in the cycle. This was titled KDGhZ2SA, a Six-letter Sufi Word and was performed by Ensemble Ictus and the Orchestre National de Lille conducted by Peter Rundel. It was followed in 2016 by the second work in the cycle, offering equally chewy music with the equally click-hating title of YZ3Z2Z1S2, a Five-letter Sufi Word.
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H1KhH2WM (Du Seuil), a Five-letter Sufi Word […] is another sonic and cerebral spectacular, this time expertly performed by the Ensemble Musiques Nouvelles, Centre Henri Pousseur; conducted by Jean-Paul Dessy. This music digs so far beneath the crusty surface of today’s stylistic correctness you will need a flashlight and mining tools to find any mention of it on social media. Which is just one of many reasons I am strongly recommending it.
Posted by Pliable at Thursday, July 12, 2018