Wim Mertens - Minimalism with a human face

An enchanted, dark world, full of thrilling musical shifts, has always animated the compositions of Wim Mertens. Many place him within the undefined galaxy of "ambient music", crowded with rarefied sounds and ecstatic atmospheres. But the Flemish composer shies away from its coldness: "My aim," he says, "is to communicate emotions through music: excitement, nostalgia, conflict, passion. I mainly use melody because I believe it's the best means to express them." Peter Greenaway knows this well, the English director of "The Belly of an Architect", a film graced by a poignant soundtrack penned by Wim Mertens.

But Mertens hasn't lent his sound only to the big screen. His music also features in several theatrical productions by Jan Fabre and in multimedia projects by Louise Delluc and Harold Shaw. And he also composed the soundtrack for the last Lisbon Expo. "I like working for film and theatre," he says, "but for me music always comes first: it's only through notes that images can be created."

Soft Verdict is the name under which the Belgian composer began performing at the age of 28. But rather than a real band, it was a group of musicians working under Mertens' direction. "Struggle For Pleasure" marked the high point of that era, featuring a sequence of pieces poised between romanticism and post-modern experimentation.

Despite always having devoted himself to the boldest experimentation, Mertens has never been a snob and has never shut himself off from the wider public. Quite the opposite. Asked: "Your debut album was called 'For Amusement Only' - do you think your music can also be considered 'entertainment'?", he replies: "I hope so. 'Entertainment' is a somewhat banal term, but I certainly have the ambition of maximizing the audience" (Maximizing The Audience is the title of one of his albums, ed.). "In short, I want my music to be as popular as possible."

Mertens has certainly always been prolific. Consider that in 1991 he released seven albums, and in 1994, ten. "I don't think I'm particularly productive. Bach had to compose a piece a week: at the time that was considered normal. But today the record industry wants one album a year: no more, no less. If I put out seven albums in a year, it's because I feel it's necessary, not because I'm following the industry's rules. It's not a matter of arrogance. There's a lot of music in my head. If I picked up pen and paper, I could start writing music right now, for at least an hour. No problem."

Over nearly twenty years of career, Mertens has always gone his own way, rejecting labels - including that of "minimalist", often pinned on him. "In the Sixties and Seventies, minimalism was an alternative to the historic avant-gardes, but then the likes of Glass and Reich reached the same academic coldness. Minimalism is only the starting point of my work."

Minimalism is the musical movement born in the Seventies under the sign of Philip Glass. His insights left a mark on the European scene from his very first tour of the Old Continent. Glass had already met David Bowie and Brian Eno after a ceremony at the Royal Academy of Music in London in 1971. In Germany he had crossed paths with avant-garde bands such as Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk. And traces of his style even began to surface in the disco compositions Giorgio Moroder wrote for Donna Summer and others, as well as in British synth-pop in the style of Human League. But it was above all a "new wave" of composers who best took up Glass's challenge: Michael Nyman, Lost Jockey, Regular Music, Soft Verdict and others gathered under labels such as Factory and the Belgian Disques du Crépuscule.

One of the dominant traits of Glass's work is easily discernible in Mertens' music: repetition. It's a style that serves two functions: carving out a space for listening within the flow of music and emotion, and representing the sensation of pleasure. In Mertens, however, the technique of repetition, while still dominant, takes on a different meaning. His music is conceived in a traditional way and composed accordingly. It's impossible to imagine it outside the minimalist tradition, but equally impossible to confine it to Glass's insights alone. On music today, the Belgian composer has a clear view: "A revolution is underway. There's much more democracy: synthesizers are accessible to everyone, anyone can have the most sophisticated tools available to compose. And there's no longer deference to any one figure or style."

The Belgian artist stays true to form with "Integer Valor", an album released on the "Materiali Sonori" label. A record that recalls the atmospheres of his early, purely experimental works under the Soft Verdict name. "It's simply the natural evolution of my music," explains Mertens in flawless English, betraying his Flemish origins only through the occasional overly pronounced "h". "The formula is simple: a large orchestra (strings, brass, guitars, bass, percussion and piano), with acoustic arrangements and instrumental pieces."

In Mertens' compositions, crepuscular melodies, baroque sounds and minimalist intuitions intertwine in ethereal scores, dominated by his piano. One senses the influence of classical and chamber music, and a strong sense of spirituality can be felt among the notes. "I'm not a believer," he clarifies, "but I feel deeply influenced by European culture, so steeped in religiosity. My country, moreover, is a borderland, and my music absorbs all its contaminations."

Wim Mertens closes the meeting with the same courteous, affable tone with which he began it. He even thanks us for our attention - he who certainly deserves far more attention from the press for everything he has achieved over the years. In a world of pirates like that of music, sometimes, you get to meet a gentleman.

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