Enigma: MCMXC a.D.
The Mastermind
Michael Cretu was born May 18, 1957 in the Romanian capital, Bucharest. His
mother is Austrian, his father Romanian. In 1975 he moved to Germany where
he studied at the Hochschule für Musik (College of Music) in Frankfurt.
He completed his degree with the highest grade possible in composition. He
became a successful studio musician (keyboards), arranger and producer.
Among his past projects are "Moti Special" and "Cretu &
Thiers".
His solo work consists of the LPs Legionäre ("Legionnaires") and
Die Chinesische Mauer ("Invisible Man"). In the meantime, his "sound" has
become recognized by millions due to the world-wide success his wife Sandra
in enjoying with her records which were produced by Michael in his private
studio. His current project, "Enigma", is the realization of a long-time
dream, music the captures, provokes and reaches new sound dimensions.
The Project
The reason for calling the project "Enigma" into life, is the
desire to make music that I have long heard in my head. Till now, I've
had neither the time nor the opportunity to make my plans reality.
"Enigma" has given me the possibility to experiment in the studio without
paying any regard to musical conventions whatsoever. Additionally, with
"Enigma" I wanted to create music that I cannot buy anywhere. I found a
particular challenge in creating a concept album combining the apparently
conflicting elements of style of Gregorian chants, black dance rhythms,
French spoken-word and the keyboard sounds of Art of Noise and Vangelis.
The music of "Enigma" was to produce a relaxed atmosphere, not like
typical synthesizer music, however, but rather on the basis of black
rhythms that practically form the backbone of contemporary music. The
overall album is founded on this basic idea.
The Enigma
I view "Enigma" as program-music, as a reminiscence on the 1970's. The
themes of the album are the unexplained occurrences of the past centuries.
Thus, the name "Enigma". Its root is Greek and means mysterious, obscure.
But, I did not want to discuss simple secrets of the first order. I was
interested in the less clear-cut, more complicated personalities like Jack
the Ripper, or ever Marquis de Sade, to whom Sadeness Part I pertains.
The title should be viewed in both its meanings. On the one hand, "Sade"
as in the Marquis' name, and on the other, "sad" in the sense of his
unhappy existence. After all, he spent fifty years of his life in prison.
I enjoy multiple meanings because they give the listener enough room for
his own interpretations. It is also an opportunity to intensively
concentrate on such discordant personalities without immediately stamping
them as crackpots or perverts.
Church and Sexuality
When thinking of unsolved cases, you don't need long to come to the
Catholic Church, "the world's oldest corporation". Actually, it is rather
mysterious club and very paradoxical. You could make five double albums
about these gentlemen. We arrived at the Gregorian chants through this
connection to Christianity. Connecting the chorales to the Marquis de Sade
should ultimately also show one of the endless discussions - the plaguing
discrepancy between the church and sexuality. Sexuality plays a large role
in the life of human beings. This fact is often played down, or ignored.
Unjustly, I believe. Humans possess two undeniable drives: the survival
instinct and instinct to reproduce. We will never succeed in doing away
these motors. Looking at world history, you must come to the conclusion
that this barricade toward sexuality is based on the teaching of
Christianity. Over the millennia, this has led to some ludicrous
occurrences. It it simply irresponsible for the Pope to travel throughout
the Third World and forbid the use of contraceptives. It really comes
close to unintentional mass murder when infants are born to starve in the
streets, or children are forced into prostitution. With its unrealistic
ideology, the church succeeds in creating the exact opposite of what it
wish to archive, like preservation of life. I, by no means, feel that the
Pope is not a man of good will, but, he is treading the wrong path,
something that I find most unfortunate because I feel that belief and
religion are good things. I deal with sexuality on the album in a subdued
fashion, basically only in the trilogy Principles of Lust. My desire was
merely to set thought processes concerning the Church and sexuality in
motion. I neither ask questions nor do I offer answers in what I do.
The Album
With "Enigma", I have fulfilled a dream of my youth. I view the album
basically as instrumental. But, instrumental music is usually very cold
and for that reason I have integrated the human voice. Inserting
Gregorian chorales should not be understood as being used merely for
means of effect but rather as an organic part of the whole piece of music.
I used the religious chants practically as a musical instrument to amplify
and complete the moods on the record. Where other words appear on the
recording, they are spoken, not sung. I integrated the vocal parts to
create a certain atmosphere. The album gives the impression of a
soundtrack, to a certain extent, without really being one and although the
music is very much synthesizer-oriented I made every effort to keep it
from sounding cold. I wanted the music to have a human and warm effect
while simultaneously giving the sense of levitating.
The Disclosure
The reason why I initially kept my name far in the background was that I
did not wish to promote the single Sadeness Part I in the usual manner.
I expressed my unconventional wish on the record company to sample this
single on radio DJs only to find out what would happen. Mine is not a
world of TV studios, promo tours and press interviews but rather one of
working in the studio. Apart from that I used the pseudonym "Enigma" so
that people would not start speculating. I wanted the audience to decide
whether it liked the music or not. Most important is that the music
speaks for itself, without any hidden meaning.
The Future
Within the framework of "Enigma", I am trying to do everything musically
possible. "Enigma" is, to me, a free field without stylistic borders. In
future "Enigma" projects, I will probably concentrate more on the problems
of the Third World. The basic principal will remain to avoid tying the
music either to a language or an artist. They will be complexes based upon
one certain idea. It is very possible that someone will sing in Indian or
Bulgarian if it fits into the concept and above all when in conveys
feelings. However, nothing I do will be based on the need for success and
there will be no repetitions. The basic requirement is that I find the
right theme with a sound basis in credibility.
Updated March 1, 1996 by Joar Grimstvedt joarg@hsr.no