Thomas Enhco belongs to a new generation of artists who seem happiest when one musical world bumps into another. He enjoys breaking down rigid boundaries by performing roughly 100 concerts annually worldwide.
He studied classical music at the Paris Conservatory and jazz at the Centre des Musiques Didier Lockwood. As a result, he developed a signature style that easily navigates Mozart sonatas and Coltrane riffs.
He has collaborated with countless greats, including marimbist Vassilena Serafimova. To celebrate his birthday on 29 September, let’s have a listen to Bach Mirror, released by Sony Classical in 2021.
Enhco/Serafimova: Bach Mirror, “Miroirs”
Bach as a Common Language
Enhco and Serafimova have been performing together since 2009. In their first concert together, they performed an arrangement of a Bach fugue from the Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin.
This arrangement appeared on their first album, Funambules (2016), which also featured excerpts from the classical repertoire and jazz, as well as their own compositions.
Thomas Enhco
Thomas Enhco: Avalanche (Vassilena Serafimova, marimba; Thomas Enhco, piano)
In March 2018, the Philharmonie de Paris asked them to participate in a weekend devoted to Bach, with a short programme running roughly 45 minutes. They later developed this initial suggestion into the Bach Mirror project and its subsequent release.
Enhco and Serafimova explain that Johann Sebastian Bach’s music has always been part of their lives. “It is a source we have been drinking from since childhood into our adult years. Whatever happens, whatever we face, this music elevates and gives depth; it inspires and comforts; it bears clarity as much as surprise. It is of such absolute perfection that it transcends the forms and instruments it was created for.” (Enhco/Serafimova, Bach Mirror, 2021)
Johann Sebastian Bach: Trio Sonata No. 3 in D Minor, BWV 527: III. Vivace (arr. T. Enhco and V. Serafimova for marimba and piano) (Vassilena Serafimova, marimba; Thomas Enhco, piano)
The Art of Transformation
Thomas Enhco
In the Bach Mirror project, they wanted to reflect the past in the present: “western rhythms in eastern rhythms, the sacred in the secular, the reality in the dream, the improvised in the written, jazz in classical, the irregular in stability.”
As such, they drew from the full range of Bach’s catalogue, ranging from religious and vocal works to solos for organ, harpsichord, violin, and cello, as well as duo sonatas and works for orchestra.
Thomas Enhco and Vassilena Serafimova
Thomas Enhco, Vassilena Serafimova: Chaconne (Vassilena Serafimova, marimba; Thomas Enhco, piano)
For Enhco and Serafimova, transcription is a fascinating concept. Bach himself transcribed a great deal, whether his own compositions or those of his contemporaries. Sometimes, he would borrow a theme or motif from a piece and create a brand-new work.
As such, “the border between transcription, arrangement and ‘re-composition’ becomes blurry, and the music, even the most complete, appears as an endlessly malleable and transformable matter.”
Thomas Enhco, Vassilena Serafimova: Silence (Vassilena Serafimova, marimba; Thomas Enhco, piano)
The Freedom of Bach
This freedom to explore sits at the heart of Enhco’s and Serafimova’s Bach Mirror. Therefore, they navigate between new compositions based on an existing element, sometimes a motif or a series of chords, and all the varying degrees suggested by transcription and arrangement.
As they explain, “Neither the marimba nor the modern piano existed in Bach’s day, and this liberated us of any qualms regarding his will on the manner his pieces should be performed.” (Enhco/Serafimova, Bach Mirror, 2021)
Johann Sebastian Bach: Overture (Suite) No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068: II. Air, “Air on the G String” (arr. T. Enhco and V. Serafimova for marimba and piano) (Vassilena Serafimova, marimba; Thomas Enhco, piano)
The 13-track album gives Bach’s compositions a second life in the 21st century, and it becomes a springboard for Enhco’s and Serafimova’s own musical personalities. Sometimes faithfully, sometimes compositionally, and sometimes improvisationally, Bach Mirror asks what happens when Bach passes through the mirror of their own instruments and musical lives.
In addition, the album was released after a year marked by a “pandemic, mourning, the absence of concerts, the privation of freedoms, the prohibition of human proximity, physical separation from our relatives, the suppression of living arts, and the trampling of culture.”
As Enhco and Serafimova explain, “Johann Sebastian Bach’s music was a source of profound peacefulness and wonder for us, and so far, it helped us cross this desert. May this record bring you a little bit of the joy and comfort its creation gave us.” (Enhco/Serafimova, Bach Mirror, 2021)
Thomas Enhco and Vassilena Serafimova
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