Language and form, in Jean-Marie Simonis music, are dictated by contemplation and a relationship to the tangible. The piano works of Belgium's most secretive composer open a door onto a dream-like world that includes both musing on infinity and instantaneous flashes. A lavish, intricate and supple style is revealed, magnifying the instrumental gesture in textures that recall Liszt, Scriabin and Ravel. An exacting attitude together with a sense of liberty are the controlling factors in these works of a markedly organic character; the harmonic construction, the melodic and rhythmic lines are connected to acoustic phenomena in a subtle play of resonance and harmonics. Simonis also shows another facet of his paradoxical personality: an abrasive spirit developing a playfulness that finds its origins in Belgian surrealism. Thérèse Malengrau provides new proof of her attachment to the world of contemporary music.
