Gavin Bryars
Encyclopedia
Richard Gavin Bryars is an English composer
and double bass
ist. He has been active in, or has produced works in, a variety of styles of music, including jazz
, free improvisation
, minimalism
, historicism
, experimental music
, avant-garde
and neoclassicism
.
, East Riding of Yorkshire
, England, Bryars initially studied philosophy
at Sheffield University before studying music
for three years.
The first musical work for which he is remembered was his role as bassist in the trio Joseph Holbrooke
, alongside guitarist Derek Bailey and drummer Tony Oxley
. The trio began by playing relatively traditional jazz
before moving into free improvisation
. However, Bryars became dissatisfied with this when he saw a young bassist (later revealed to be Johnny Dyani
) play in a manner which seemed to him to be artificial, and he became interested in composition instead.
Bryars's first works as a composer owe much to the New York School of John Cage
(with whom he briefly studied), Morton Feldman
, Earle Brown
and minimalism
. One of his earliest pieces, The Sinking of the Titanic (1969), is an indeterminist
work which allows the performers to take a number of sound sources related to the sinking of the RMS Titanic and make them into a piece of music. The first recording of this piece appeared on Brian Eno
's Obscure Records
in 1975. The 1994 recording of this piece was remixed by Aphex Twin
as Raising the Titanic (later collected on the 26 Mixes for Cash
album).
A well known early work is Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet
(1971), which has as its basis a recorded loop
of a vagrant
singing a hymn
of that name. On top of that loop, rich harmonies
played by a live ensemble
are built, always increasing in density, before the whole thing gradually fades out. A new recording of this work was made in the 1990s with Tom Waits
singing along with the original recording of the vagrant during the final section.
Bryars was a founding member of the Portsmouth Sinfonia
, an orchestra whose membership consisted of performers who “embrace the full range of musical competence” — and who played popular classical works. Its members included Brian Eno
, whose Obscure Records label would subsequently release works by Bryars. In one of the first three releases from the label, Brian Eno's album Discreet Music
, Bryars conducted and co-arranged the three pieces Three Variations on the Canon in D Major by Johann Pachelbel which constitute the second half of the album.
Bryars's later works have included A Man In A Room, Gambling (1992), which was written on commission from BBC Radio 3
and Artangel
. Bryars's music is heard beneath monologues spoken by the Spanish
artist
Juan Muñoz
, who talks about methods of cheating at card games. The ten short works were played on Radio 3 without any introductory announcements, and Bryars is quoted as saying that he hoped they would appear to the listener in a similar way to the shipping forecast
, both mysterious and accepted without question. His Cello concerto Farewell to Philosophy was recorded in 1997 by Julian Lloyd Webber
.
Bryars has written a large number of other works, including three opera
s, and a number of instrumental pieces, among them three string quartet
s and several concerto
s. He has written several pieces for choreographers, including Biped (2001) for Merce Cunningham
. Between 1981-1984 he participated in the CIVIL warS, a vast, never-completed multimedia project by Robert Wilson
.
Bryars founded the music department at Leicester Polytechnic (now De Montfort University
), and taught there for a number of years. He lives in England, and, in the summer months, on the west coast of Canada
.
He was born on the same day (16 January 1943) as another prominent English composer, Brian Ferneyhough
.
In his June 2008 appearance on Desert Island Discs
author Peter Carey chose Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet as his eighth and final record choice.
n filmmaker, and they have three daughters and a son.
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
ist. He has been active in, or has produced works in, a variety of styles of music, including jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, free improvisation
Free improvisation
Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination of the musician involved. The term can refer to both a technique and as a recognizable genre in its own right....
, minimalism
Minimalism
Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts...
, historicism
Musical historicism
Musical historicism signifies the use of historical materials, structures, styles, techniques, media, conceptual content, etc., whether by a single composer or those associated with a particular school, movement, or period...
, experimental music
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
, avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
and neoclassicism
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...
.
Early life and career
Born in GooleGoole
Goole is a town, civil parish and port located approximately inland on the confluence of the rivers Don and Ouse in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England...
, East Riding of Yorkshire
East Riding of Yorkshire
The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Yorkshire, is a local government district with unitary authority status, and a ceremonial county of England. For ceremonial purposes the county also includes the city of Kingston upon Hull, which is a separate unitary authority...
, England, Bryars initially studied philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
at Sheffield University before studying music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
for three years.
The first musical work for which he is remembered was his role as bassist in the trio Joseph Holbrooke
Joseph Holbrooke (band)
Joseph Holbrooke were a musical trio active in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, and briefly re-formed in 1998. The group consisted of: Derek Bailey , Gavin Bryars and Tony Oxley...
, alongside guitarist Derek Bailey and drummer Tony Oxley
Tony Oxley
Tony Oxley is an English free-jazz drummer and one of the founders of Incus Records.-Biography:Tony Oxley was born in Sheffield, England. A self-taught pianist by age eight, he first began playing the drums at seventeen. While in the Black Watch military band from 1957 to 1960 he studied music...
. The trio began by playing relatively traditional jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
before moving into free improvisation
Free improvisation
Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination of the musician involved. The term can refer to both a technique and as a recognizable genre in its own right....
. However, Bryars became dissatisfied with this when he saw a young bassist (later revealed to be Johnny Dyani
Johnny Dyani
Johnny Mbizo Dyani was a South African jazz double bassist and pianist, who played with such musicians as Don Cherry, Steve Lacy, David Murray and Leo Smith....
) play in a manner which seemed to him to be artificial, and he became interested in composition instead.
Bryars's first works as a composer owe much to the New York School of John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
(with whom he briefly studied), Morton Feldman
Morton Feldman
Morton Feldman was an American composer, born in New York City.A major figure in 20th century music, Feldman was a pioneer of indeterminate music, a development associated with the experimental New York School of composers also including John Cage, Christian Wolff, and Earle Brown...
, Earle Brown
Earle Brown
Earle Brown was an American composer who established his own formal and notational systems...
and minimalism
Minimalism
Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts...
. One of his earliest pieces, The Sinking of the Titanic (1969), is an indeterminist
Indeterminacy in music
Indeterminacy in music, which began early in the twentieth century in the music of Charles Ives, and was continued in the 1930s by Henry Cowell and carried on by his student, the experimental music composer John Cage beginning in 1951 , came to refer to the movement which grew up around Cage...
work which allows the performers to take a number of sound sources related to the sinking of the RMS Titanic and make them into a piece of music. The first recording of this piece appeared on Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
's Obscure Records
Obscure Records
Obscure Records was a U.K. record label which existed from 1975 to 1978. It was created and run by Brian Eno, who also produced the albums . Ten albums were issued in the series...
in 1975. The 1994 recording of this piece was remixed by Aphex Twin
Aphex Twin
Richard David James , best known under the pseudonym Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born electronic musician and composer described as "the most inventive and influential figure in contemporary electronic music"...
as Raising the Titanic (later collected on the 26 Mixes for Cash
26 Mixes for Cash
26 Mixes for Cash is a compilation album of remixes produced by Richard D. James for various artists, plus four original tracks. It was released on 24 March 2003 by Warp Records...
album).
A well known early work is Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet
Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet
Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet is a 1971 composition by Gavin Bryars. It is formed on a loop of an unknown homeless man singing a brief stanza. Rich harmonies, comprising string and brass, are gradually overlaid over the stanza. The piece was first recorded for use in a documentary which...
(1971), which has as its basis a recorded loop
Music loop
In electroacoustic music, a loop is a repeating section of sound material. Short sections of material can be repeated to create ostinato patterns...
of a vagrant
Vagrancy (people)
A vagrant is a person in poverty, who wanders from place to place without a home or regular employment or income.-Definition:A vagrant is "a person without a settled home or regular work who wanders from place to place and lives by begging;" vagrancy is the condition of such persons.-History:In...
singing a hymn
Hymn
A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...
of that name. On top of that loop, rich harmonies
Harmony
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
played by a live ensemble
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
are built, always increasing in density, before the whole thing gradually fades out. A new recording of this work was made in the 1990s with Tom Waits
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
singing along with the original recording of the vagrant during the final section.
Bryars was a founding member of the Portsmouth Sinfonia
Portsmouth Sinfonia
The Portsmouth Sinfonia was an orchestra founded by a group of students at the Portsmouth School of Art in Portsmouth, England, in 1970. The Sinfonia had an unusual entrance requirement, in that players had to either be non-musicians, or if a musician, play an instrument that was entirely new to...
, an orchestra whose membership consisted of performers who “embrace the full range of musical competence” — and who played popular classical works. Its members included Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
, whose Obscure Records label would subsequently release works by Bryars. In one of the first three releases from the label, Brian Eno's album Discreet Music
Discreet Music
Discreet Music is an album by the British ambient musician Brian Eno. While No Pussyfooting may be his first ambient album and Another Green World features many ambient pieces, this is Brian Eno’s first purely ambient solo album...
, Bryars conducted and co-arranged the three pieces Three Variations on the Canon in D Major by Johann Pachelbel which constitute the second half of the album.
Bryars's later works have included A Man In A Room, Gambling (1992), which was written on commission from BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation...
and Artangel
Artangel
Artangel is a London-based arts organisation founded in 1985 by Roger Took. Directed since 1991 by James Lingwood and Michael Morris, it has commissioned and produced a string of notable site-specific works, plus several projects for TV, film, radio and the web...
. Bryars's music is heard beneath monologues spoken by the Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
Juan Muñoz
Juan Muñoz
Juan Muñoz was a Spanish sculptor, working primarily in paper maché, resin and bronze. He was also interested in the auditory arts and created compositions for the radio. He was a self-described "storyteller"...
, who talks about methods of cheating at card games. The ten short works were played on Radio 3 without any introductory announcements, and Bryars is quoted as saying that he hoped they would appear to the listener in a similar way to the shipping forecast
Shipping Forecast
The Shipping Forecast is a four-times-daily BBC Radio broadcast of weather reports and forecasts for the seas around the coasts of the British Isles. It is produced by the Met Office and broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. The forecasts sent over the Navtex...
, both mysterious and accepted without question. His Cello concerto Farewell to Philosophy was recorded in 1997 by Julian Lloyd Webber
Julian Lloyd Webber
Julian Lloyd Webber is a British solo cellist who has been described as the "doyen of British cellists".-Early life:Julian Lloyd Webber is the second son of the composer William Lloyd Webber and his wife Jean Johnstone . He is the younger brother of the composer Andrew Lloyd Webber...
.
Bryars has written a large number of other works, including three opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
s, and a number of instrumental pieces, among them three string quartet
String quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
s and several concerto
Concerto
A concerto is a musical work usually composed in three parts or movements, in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra.The etymology is uncertain, but the word seems to have originated from the conjunction of the two Latin words...
s. He has written several pieces for choreographers, including Biped (2001) for Merce Cunningham
Merce Cunningham
Mercier "Merce" Philip Cunningham was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of the American avant-garde for more than 50 years. Throughout much of his life, Cunningham was considered one of the greatest creative forces in American dance...
. Between 1981-1984 he participated in the CIVIL warS, a vast, never-completed multimedia project by Robert Wilson
Robert Wilson (director)
Robert Wilson is an American avant-garde stage director and playwright who has been called "[America]'s — or even the world's — foremost vanguard 'theater artist'". Over the course of his wide-ranging career, he has also worked as a choreographer, performer, painter, sculptor, video...
.
Bryars founded the music department at Leicester Polytechnic (now De Montfort University
De Montfort University
De Montfort University is a public research and teaching university situated in the medieval Old Town of Leicester, England, adjacent to the River Soar and the Leicester Castle Gardens...
), and taught there for a number of years. He lives in England, and, in the summer months, on the west coast of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
He was born on the same day (16 January 1943) as another prominent English composer, Brian Ferneyhough
Brian Ferneyhough
Brian John Peter Ferneyhough is an English composer. His music is characterized by the extensive use of complex rhythmic tuplet notation which features in all his works...
.
In his June 2008 appearance on Desert Island Discs
Desert Island Discs
Desert Island Discs is a BBC Radio 4 programme first broadcast on 29 January 1942. It is the second longest-running radio programme , and is the longest-running factual programme in the history of radio...
author Peter Carey chose Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet as his eighth and final record choice.
Personal life
Bryars is married to Anna Tchernakova, a RussiaRussia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n filmmaker, and they have three daughters and a son.
Selected works
- The Sinking of the Titanic (1969, First performance: Queen Elizabeth Hall, London 1972)
- Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me YetJesus' Blood Never Failed Me YetJesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet is a 1971 composition by Gavin Bryars. It is formed on a loop of an unknown homeless man singing a brief stanza. Rich harmonies, comprising string and brass, are gradually overlaid over the stanza. The piece was first recorded for use in a documentary which...
(for Pre-recorded Tape and ensemble), 1972 - Medea (Opera, libretto after Euripides. ) 1982, revised 1984 and 1995
- CIVIL WarS (incomplete Opera collaboration with Robert Wilson), 1984 . Some sections of the music exist in completed form, as follows:
- On Photography for Chorus (SATB), harmonium, piano.
- 2B for Percussion ensemble.
- Arias For Marie Curie, The Queen of the Sea, Captain Nemo, The Japanese Bride.
- String Quartet No 1 Between the National and the Bristol, 1985.
- Cadman Requiem (Dedicated to Bill Cadman), 1989
- String Quartet No 2, 1990.
- A Man in a Room, Gambling for speaking voice and string quartet (Text: Juan Muñoz), 1992
- The North Shore for viola and piano, 1993
- Three Elegies for Nine Clarinets, 1994
- Cello Concerto Farewell to Philosophy, 1995.
- Adnan Songbook, 1996.
- String Quartet no.3, 1998
- Biped - music for the dance by Merce CunninghamMerce CunninghamMercier "Merce" Philip Cunningham was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of the American avant-garde for more than 50 years. Throughout much of his life, Cunningham was considered one of the greatest creative forces in American dance...
, 1999 - G (Being the Confession and Last Testament of Johannes Gensfleisch, also known as Gutenberg, Master Printer, formerly of Strasbourg and Mainz) Opera, 2002
- Nothing like the Sun - 8 Shakespeare sonnets for soprano, tenor, speaking voice, 8 instruments, 2007
- Piano Concerto ("The Solway Canal"), 2010
External links
- Gavin Bryars.com - The official Gavin Bryars website : bio, discog, news, etc.
- Schott Music Limited
- Myspace.com/gavinbryarsmusic - The official Gavin Bryars MySpace page : information and sound clips
- Gavin Bryars discography
- Clip of Cello Concerto
- Cello Concerto Reviews
- BBC interview (2004)
- Culture Kiosque Interview (2000)
- Morton Feldman interviewed by Gavin Bryars and Fred Orton (1976)