Roger Eno has reimagined a Beethoven classic. Deezer
Roger Eno has reimagined a Beethoven classic. Deezer
Roger Eno has reimagined a Beethoven classic. Deezer
Roger Eno has reimagined a Beethoven classic. Deezer

How Roger Eno took on a Beethoven masterpiece and created a soundtrack for the pandemic


Saeed Saeed
  • English
  • Arabic

The pandemic hasn’t stopped the classical music industry from celebrating a pioneer.

Despite the closure of concert halls for most of 2020, the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth was marked by spectacular performances that year.

This includes grand takes of the 9th Symphony in Abu Dhabi's Emirates Palace in January and the Temple of Bacchus in Baalbek, Lebanon in June.

The latest tribute to the German composer is more modern in style and substance.

Released exclusively on streaming platform Deezer, Beethoven Recomposed features acclaimed pianists putting their touch on a dozen of the composer's loved works.

Joining the likes of French artists Chilly Gonzales and Sofiane Pamart is Roger Eno.

And true to his standing as one of the architects of ambient music, the British pianist's contribution is suitably enveloping.

His take on Fur Elise, a piece published 40 years after Beethoven's death in 1867, is not so much a reworking but a reimagining.

Eno, 62, approaches the work by basing the titular character, the young and carefree woman, Elise, in the present context.

"I guess she would have been about 18 years old at the time and Beethoven wrote a piece that was appropriate for someone of that age – this also includes that little dance bit in the middle that you could have heard at any soiree of that period," he tells The National.

"I wanted to bring Elise here. A person during this age would be out having parties with friends, going out driving and just really be in love with being young.”

That effervescence gradually reveals itself.

Eno builds upon the Fur Elise's recognisable motif until reaching a radiant section full of minimal percussion, a genteel slide guitar and shimmering arpeggios.

Sonic postcards

Eno didn’t have to go too far to conjure up those pastoral images and the wide open road.

He only needs to look out from the window of his home studio in Bungay, a town in Suffolk, in the east of England.

A two-and-a-half-hour drive from London, Eno describes the quaint market town as a physical and creative refuge from the bustle of major cities.

To keep in contact with loved ones, he would send them greetings in the form of musical snippets.

"I often get up in the morning, go to my studio at home play with the piano," he says.

"Whatever comes out, I normally send them to my group of friends, including my brother Brian. I often look at it as these little postcards but in the form of MP3s."

Unbeknownst to Eno initially, pioneering producer Brian, 72 – the man behind seminal albums by U2 and Coldplay – kept those files and went to work on them by adding signature effects and atmospherics from his London studio.

These initial sketches went on to to form the outline for Mixing Colours, the brothers' debut joint album.

Painting with music

Eno recalls being excited by the music’s prospect upon hearing Brian’s contribution.

Resolving to continue the freewheeling approach, in the second half of 2019, the duo sent each other work from Bungay and London until they had enough for an album.

It was a process Eno describes as similar to painting.

"I would send Brian these black and white sketches and he would colour them in," he says.

"Now that doesn't demean both of our work. Brian, doesn't need a particularly melodic quality for his work because the kind of sounds he uses is what makes it so beautiful.

“That's his area and I am good at melody. If you put both of these together, you come up with a few strong pieces.”

Not only are the instrumental works, in most part, stunning and quietly devastating, Mixing Colours took on extra resonance as the pandemic raged on.

Released in March 2020, Eno recalls how fans and new listeners gravitated to the work, with its undulating, shape-shifting and melancholic piano and soothing otherworldly soundscapes, as an attempt to come to grips amid the uncertain times.

“It got to a stage where people thought that we created an album specifically for the pandemic, which totally wasn’t the case” he says.

Eno welcomes these assumptions, however. It proves Mixing Colours is achieving its purpose.

“It is a very introspective piece of work and it allows you to look inside yourself,” he says.

“I know that, at least in Britain, many people couldn’t go to office and stay at home. So there have been lots of points where we had to reflect on our lives and how we got here and this album is the perfect background music for that kind of process.”

Thicker than blood

To ensure there were no distractions from the meditation, the Enos titled each track after a colour.

Even the names are purposely opaque so that no meaning can be derived from the titles. Mood associated colours such as blue, red and black are jettisoned for Wintergreen, Dark Sienna and Verdigris.

Choosing these esoteric shades were the only time the brothers butted heads, albeit gently.

After nearly five decades collaborating on each other’s solo works, Eno says to finally release a joint album with his elder sibling doesn’t feel momentous at all.

Mixing Colours, he says, merely represents a combined pallet of their sounds and sensibilities.

“At the same time, I am aware that the kind of relationship we have, where both like the absolute same things, is not entirely normal,” Eno says with a laugh.

“The connection between Brian and I cannot be described as blood, it is something deeper and goes right down to our DNA.”

MATCH INFO

Newcastle United 1 (Carroll 82')

Leicester City 2 (Maddison 55', Tielemans 72')

Man of the match James Maddison (Leicester)

The specs: 2019 Mini Cooper

Price, base: Dh141,740 (three-door) / Dh165,900 (five-door)
Engine: 1.5-litre four-cylinder (Cooper) / 2.0-litre four-cylinder (Cooper S)
Power: 136hp @ 4,500rpm (Cooper) / 192hp @ 5,000rpm (Cooper S)
Torque: 220Nm @ 1,480rpm (Cooper) / 280Nm @ 1,350rpm (Cooper S)
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 4.8L to 5.4L / 100km

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About Proto21

Date started: May 2018
Founder: Pir Arkam
Based: Dubai
Sector: Additive manufacturing (aka, 3D printing)
Staff: 18
Funding: Invested, supported and partnered by Joseph Group

COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Tearful appearance

Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday. 

Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow. 

She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.

A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.

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How to improve Arabic reading in early years

One 45-minute class per week in Standard Arabic is not sufficient

The goal should be for grade 1 and 2 students to become fluent readers

Subjects like technology, social studies, science can be taught in later grades

Grade 1 curricula should include oral instruction in Standard Arabic

First graders must regularly practice individual letters and combinations

Time should be slotted in class to read longer passages in early grades

Improve the appearance of textbooks

Revision of curriculum should be undertaken as per research findings

Conjugations of most common verb forms should be taught

Systematic learning of Standard Arabic grammar

Russia's Muslim Heartlands

Dominic Rubin, Oxford

If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.

When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.

How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
The specs

Engine: 6.2-litre V8

Transmission: seven-speed auto

Power: 420 bhp

Torque: 624Nm

Price: from Dh293,200

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The biog

Hometown: Cairo

Age: 37

Favourite TV series: The Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror

Favourite anime series: Death Note, One Piece and Hellsing

Favourite book: Designing Brand Identity, Fifth Edition

If you go

The flights
There are various ways of getting to the southern Serengeti in Tanzania from the UAE. The exact route and airstrip depends on your overall trip itinerary and which camp you’re staying at. 
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Kilimanjaro International Airport from Dh1,350 return, including taxes; this can be followed by a short flight from Kilimanjaro to the Serengeti with Coastal Aviation from about US$700 (Dh2,500) return, including taxes. Kenya Airways, Emirates and Etihad offer flights via Nairobi or Dar es Salaam.   

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Company Profile

Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million

THE BIO

BIO:
Born in RAK on December 9, 1983
Lives in Abu Dhabi with her family
She graduated from Emirates University in 2007 with a BA in architectural engineering
Her motto in life is her grandmother’s saying “That who created you will not have you get lost”
Her ambition is to spread UAE’s culture of love and acceptance through serving coffee, the country’s traditional coffee in particular.

The specs
  • Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
  • Power: 640hp
  • Torque: 760nm
  • On sale: 2026
  • Price: Not announced yet
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Poacher
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