Breath of Note

My dear friend recently shared music with me again. It’s such a treasure when he does this because he has an expansive and eclectic range from which to pull. It feels as though he must breathe notes from the clef as you and I breathe air. The melodies and rhythms that live within him are forever in vibration – energizing him, soothing him. They are waiting to be shared, to be breathed out and pushed into another to feed their soul like it has fed his.

 

This time he filled me with the alluring work of Nils Frahm Screws and I am left breathless.

 

Did you ever wonder what it feels like to drown and to be saved over and over?

Have you questioned what it must be like to surrender to the darkness and to be pulled back into light?

Could you imagine how it feels to float on air and to be grounded in all who you are?

This is what Nils Frahm evokes with his music.

It is the slow, shaky steps that somehow transform within you until you stand resolute and with confidence as you stride away. As if magic has happened inside you.

He has managed to capture all of the sorrow and anguish, respite and contentment, peace and resounding joy that a heart might feel. The sober strength that wells from the tenderness in his works echos the hesitant lives we struggle to pilot. His pieces gently grasp at the somberness of our souls, cradling it among evolving notes and holding it in a melody wrapped with warmth and kindness. It is the breath of absolution to ennui.

These are the notes my body recognizes and it begins to dance like years gone by. With each breath of music that escapes from him my soul begins to sway. In my mind I have returned to the studio. I feel the boards beneath my slippered feet as I glide across the floor, my body arching and circling upon itself. I have found life here. I breathe in the notes as they dance on my skin and carry me effortlessly from quiet rest to bold gestures. This music holds its own choreography, my body follows where the notes lead. I am lost to its depths and buoyed by its lightness.

My soul has been waiting for music like this – to rescue, to quiet, to hold me.

Thank you, dear friend. What you have given me (again) is more than beautiful music to listen to, you have shown me a new heartbeat.

 

 

Nils Frahm Screws is available here