[…] Hazrat Inayat Khan also teaches the importance of wazifa – “the power of the word which works upon each atom of the body, making it sonorous, making it a medium of communication between the external life and the inner life”. Jean-luc Fafchamps (b. 1960) wrote his Sufi Word for ensemble and orchestra despite the composer’s admission that “I am not a Sufi, or even Muslim and I do not speak Arabic”. […] This recording is endowed with enough low frequency vibrations to satisfy both Hazrat Inayat Khan and those who think classical music should turn up the bass.[…] Some may think that Sufi Word takes Hazrat Inayat Khan’s injunction that sound alone is free from form too literally. But Jean-luc Fafchamps is one of those musical explorers who cuts handholds that are sometimes beyond the reach of mere mortals, thereby providing a challenge to extend a puny reach that otherwise threatens to atrophy in today’s ruthlessly moderated culture.

Pliable, July 30, 2012

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