Tongue of the Invisible

A "story of 'fixed' and 'open' things" unfolds in Liza Lim's work "Tongue of the Invisible" on the new CD of Edition Musikfabrik. Of Chinese descent, the Australia-born composer was inspired by the lyric poetry of the Sufi poet Hafiz. She says: "Hafiz's verses are unbelievably ecstatic and intimate, yet also very fleeting – the way in which he mixes and shifts levels of meaning gives rise to complex and indeterminable frames of mind in oneself."

In terms of music, this variety of meaning in "Tongue of the Invisible" is first and foremost reflected in the juxtaposition and coexistence of precisely and meticulously composed textures and improvised elements. But the compilation of the text set to music, too, facilitates numerous variants and interpretations. These dialogues of improvised and meticulously composed material are superbly "narrated" by the pianist Uri Caine, singer Omar Ebrahim and the soloists of the ensemble musikFabrik.

A production by WDR.