Sufi Bach is trending


In response to my post Sufism, Islam, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid a contributive reader draws my attention to the album seen above which was released last week. Born in Switzerland to a British-Turkish family, pianist Joanna Goodale studied at the ​Haute Ecole de Musique de Genève with Dominique ​Weber, who in turn was a pupil of Léon Fleisher. ​Passionate about multidisciplinary projects, her first album unites Bach’s music with her own arrangements of Sufi chants from Turkey and Iran: its title 'Bach in a Circle' refers to the whirling of Turkish followers of Rumi. Watch an informative video which illustrates her use on the album of prepared piano sounds à la John Cage via this link. More on this admirable exercise in challenging classical comfort zones when I have lived with it for a while.

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