Bewider: Gymnopedies Rework
DL Wider Studio Music
However objectionable the idea of an electronic makeover of Satie's Gymnopedies might seem on paper, in practice Bewider's versions turn out to be pretty easy to defend. There's nothing kitschy about the three productions, and Piernicola Di Muro, the electronic music producer responsible, has crafted the material with a deep, abiding affection for their maker, the result tasteful reinventions capable of winning over even the most diehard Satie purist. Following from some experiments Di Muro did using modular synths, he created the reworks anew, this time primarily using analogue synths and in a single recording session, one goal being to reap the benefits of spontaneous live performance.
The Gymnopedies never fail to captivate, and they do so all over again in Di Muro's versions. Enchantment sets in quickly in his stirring Bewider treatment of “Gymnopedie 1.” Its haunting melody emerges from an enveloping cloud of reverb and haze, the material slowly blossoming into a quietly majestic lilt and the theme intoning softly. At first voiced using chiming, organ-like timbres, it draws the listener in even more when punctuated by thrumming textures and expanded into a synthesizer-rich statement. Shadowy by comparison, the second in the series slows the tempo and instates a sombre mood with darker synthesizer hues, the result a dreamlike incantation. “Gymnopedie 3” more hews to the tone of the second than the first, with majestic chords blazing forth emphatically. As in the others, the original's intoxicating melody eventually rises to the surface to give familiar shape to the presentation. Despite the electronic garb they're newly clothed in, Satie's originals lose little of their enduring magic in these Bewider makeovers.February 2021