The name Wim Mertens is probably not familiar to most people in Britain but in Spain, Japan and his home territory, the Benelux, the cyclical systems composer has racked up considerable sales with a back catalogue that is, by turns, beautiful and self-indulgent and equals just over 50 (count them) album releases ranging from music for solo soprano sax, quartets, full orchestra and, bizarrely, pinball machines, the latter being his debut release.
Pretty much all of his output through the years has been released on the Belgian boutique and new-wave label, Les Disques Du Crepuscule hence the reason for not achieving the coverage he deserved in the UK. A few of his more sedate pieces have been sampled or covered for the so-called chill-out market but quite a lot of the more Phillip Glass-esque works have been wheeled out for European art-house films. This triple CD set rounds up the best and most accessible of this output and throws in a welter of unreleased extracts to boot.
Perhaps Mertens biggest breakthrough in cinema in the UK was having his earlier Soft Verdict passages being chosen by ultra-arty director Peter Greenaway for the film, Belly Of An Architect. This gave the Flemish creator a spotlight on memorable pieces such as Close Cover and 4-Mains, both included here along with a couple of other tracks from that film. The remainder is drawn from Father Damien, Lisa, Fiesta and countless others I havent heard of. But no matter, the music spread across the 3 discs acts as a great introduction to the sweeping piano and orchestral minimalism plus the mannered falsetto that divides opinion in a few of his fans. You would have to have a heart of cardboard not to at least get mild tremble-lip during the closing vocalised 4 minutes of A Tiels Leisor No Plans, No Projects.
Disappointingly, the sleeve notes are just as minimal as the music contained within which leads me to think that EMI have missed the boat somewhat with a lack of information. My copy actually came without the libretto by error but now that EMI has kindly sent a replacement I am none the wiser about the ideas or the films behind this otherwise very conclusive and excellent selection.