A Closer Listen
“The moment you accept yourself, doors open”, says Marie Awadis, explaining the origins of new album Études Mélodiques. It’s a powerful message, and a powerful album, right from the thundering opening chord of the first Étude, “Playing Games”. It’s also the expression of a complex identity. Born to members of the Armenian diaspora in war-torn Lebanon, Awadis now lives in Germany, but remains keenly aware of the fragility of the world in which we live. Her foundational musical knowledge is the Armenian music of her heritage, but it was followed by intensive classical training. Perhaps too intense; discouraged, she briefly stopped playing and composing. Her return to composition was an attempt to make sense of her identify, an ongoing process that sees her trying to reconcile her heritage, her classical training, and her wide-ranging musical interests that includes jazz, neoclassicism, minimalism, the music of her roots and other “world” musics. The resulting album is a fascinating blend—a powerful alloy—and one that only she could make.
That powerful opening chord is particularly striking because what follows seems so lighthearted. “Playing Games” rushes from place to place, full of joy, playfully weaving melodies through the heart of the texture. It’s so clearly a depiction of her childhood. At some point, though, the music takes a minor turn and the darkness takes hold. That’s what happens when children play in a war zone; the very texture of life fills with fear. As the piece moves forward the major returns, the harmony becomes more complex, the dynamics become ever more dramatic, and the whole piece begins to strain towards some sort of resolution. That resolution, which in therapist-speak you might call “closure”, never quite comes, but the climax reaches its peak with a spectacular interrupted cadence and in the sparkling final phrases we see that Awadis has been able to find some meaning, some way of integrating her childhood experiences into her adult self. It’s a remarkable achievement to condense such a profound experience into just over four minutes.
The third Étude, “Ballade”, is an equally masterful demonstration of her compositional skill. It begins with the simplest of minimalist harmonies and a slowly descending bassline that only briefly hints at the complexity to come. As the music enters its second stanza, the harmonic complexity starts to increase, as does the emotional power. In the third stanza, the texture thickens with a gorgeous left hand figure, the harmonic language reaches a Chopinesque climax, complete with a gorgeous cantabile melody. In using these related but disparate styles to tell a story, it manages that rare achievement of being simultaneously accessible while extremely sophisticated. It’s a remarkable achievement, emblematic of the whole album.
Side note: if you enjoy Études Mélodiques, which is Awadis’ first album on a major label, you’ll probably also love her previous album, Una Corda Diaries, which came out on the boutique Oscarson label and which was improvised and recorded over the course of 7 days on one of David Klavins’ Una Corda pianos. It’s very different to this album, but an equally wonderful experience. Highly recommended. (Garreth Brooke)
Sat Aug 24 00:01:21 GMT 2024