Sabine is a single from Silentaria, a music project by Rixa White. Sabine is named after a character in Romain Rolland’s masterful 10 volume novel Jean-Christophe (1904 -1912). And like Sabine in Rolland’s novels, the song by Silentaria leaves an unforgettable impression. Sabine is simply not to miss.
Music inspired by literature is rare these days. In New Age music we have quite a few albums released each year inspired by ancient myths and tales (Atlantis is always popular, so is also Greek myths), but few albums are composed in tribute to books and literary characters. But with Sabine Silentaria shows the way and can be an inspiration for other artists.
Sabine’s Grace
Silentaria gives us this description:
Sabine is a pretty small-boned woman who charms by her grace, her youth and her gentleness. With light brown hair, pale blue eyes and well marked arched eyebrows, she looks like an expression of the Madonna in Filippo Lippi’s paintings.
Jean-Christophe, a German musician, never dreamed that a small crack in the closed shutters is enough for love to peep out. With magic of indefinite silences and trivial words, their love grows. But they hold in their love and their emotional moments are prevented either by an intruder or their own hesitation.
Finally their relationship cuts off by unexpected Sabine’s death, while Jean-Christophe is away on a concert tour.
This is the dramatic background for Silentaria’s single. It is always a joy to hear artists who master the sound of analogue synths. While new synths, like Sylenth1 and Omnisphere, have clarity, the 1980s synths have depth, warmth and atmosphere. Silentaria uses the synth choir and strings to perfection. It is like listening to Constance Demby’s classic Novus Magnificat (1986), with a modern twist.
Inspired by the book Jean-Christophe and the early 1900s, the light piano melody tells the story of love and loss, and the value of cherishing good memories.
It it possible for a song to tell as much as a 10 volume book? Perhaps not. But Silentaria’s Sabine is a marvelous song that makes you want to read the book and hear more releases by this fine artist. It shows too that text and notes can tell the same story. That is a big accomplishment.