Gavin BRYARS (b.1943)
After Handel’s Vesper (1995) [11:47]
Ramble on Cortona (2010) [12:34]
Piano Concerto (The Solway Canal) (2010) [28:21]¹
Ralph van Raat (piano)
Capella Amsterdam
Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic/Otto Tausk ¹
rec. August 2010, Sweelinckzaal, Amsterdam and February 2010, Muziekgebouw
aan’t IJ, Amsterdam (Concerto)
NAXOS 8.572570 [52:42] 
I will put my cards on the table. This is the first time that I have heard
any music by the composer Gavin Bryars. It could be argued that this will
preclude me from making any criticism of this CD either positive or negative.
On the other hand listeners and reviewers have to begin somewhere: there is
always going to be a ‘first piece’ from any composer that is consciously listened
to. The emphasis here is on ‘consciously’ as I may have picked up some of
his music on Classic FM or Radio 3. In some ways this is an advantage: I have
no preconceptions as to his musical style save what I read in the liner-notes.
So I hear this music with an ‘innocent ear’ and draw my conclusions based
on analogy to other works. And this is important. One of the criticisms levelled
against Bryars is his eclecticism. In fact, the liner-notes make a very high
falutin’, almost sycophantic, claim for the composer – ‘He ... absorbs and
integrates all the great possibilities in sound and style which mankind has
acquired during the course of music history – both from its traditions and
from the avant-garde.’ Surely avant-garde is also a part of musical tradition?
In slightly less ingratiating terms this simply means that such diverse voices
as Handel, Cage, Xenakis and Ives can be heard in his music. The test of this
eclecticism is whether these influences are parodies or a genuine absorption
of styles made into something new and vivid. On this matter, my jury is still
out.
Three works are presented on this CD – two solo keyboard pieces and a major
‘piano concerto’ that also makes use of a choir. Any discussion of these works
depends heavily on the liner-notes.
The first work, After Handel’s Vesper was composed in 1995 and was
originally conceived for solo harpsichord. I find this a little bit of a ‘ramble’
in spite of the fact that the composer has tried to fuse seventeenth-century
style with jazz and a higher degree of chromaticism than Handel would have
cared to use. It is certainly an interesting work that engages the listener.
However, the balance between its ‘baroque ornamentation’ and the ‘lush’ harmonies
can be a little overstated. I always thought that only grass could be lush!
The formal characteristics seem to be predicated on a ‘free and improvisatory
playing style’ rather than anything based on a contemporary Handelian ‘sonata’
or ‘suite.’ Yet it works well for piano, possibly better than the original
harpsichord: there are some lovely, moving moments in amongst the pseudo-minimalistic
note-spinning. My only concern is that the great variety of material appears
to lack cohesion.
Ramble on Cortona is perhaps an unfortunate title: Grainger-esque maybe
in name, but not in concept or sound. Once again this is a ‘fusion’ piece
that bases its material on themes from one of the composer’s earlier works,
Laudes. This in turn was derived from a thirteenth-century musical
manuscript found in Cortona in Italy. The Ramble is a well crafted
work that takes the listener on a journey – more a meander than a ‘yomp’.
However, like much of Gavin Bryars, the harmonies and pianism are well expressed
and sometimes spine-tingling. Not a masterpiece perhaps, but certainly an
enjoyable and important essay for the piano.
The major event on this surprisingly ‘economical’ CD (only 52 minutes long)
is the Piano Concerto The Solway Canal. Naxos has been unable to give
the text to the two sonnets by the Scottish poet Edwin Morgan which inspired
the work. Fortunately they are quite easy to locate on the internet,
so there is no excuse for not perusing them. However, from my point of view
I am not quite sure what the ‘makar’ is driving at in these beautifully written
poems. Perhaps it does not really matter too much. I - naively perhaps - guess
it is some allusion to ‘global warming’ and subsequent flooding.
The best description of this concerto is that it could be regarded as film-music.
I guess each listener will provide his or her own screenplay - probably not
based on the poet’s words. The piano is not used as a romantically-charged
protagonist; rather it takes the role of a guide and leads the band and singers
on a journey (Ramble?) through a variety of landscapes. However these landscapes
are varied more in colour and mood rather than ‘geological’ structures. I
am not sure what the singers actually bring to the party; however Busoni used
a choir in his mega-concerto and also Beethoven in his less-than successful
Choral Fantasy, so it is not really a novelty.
There is nothing particularly challenging about this music, especially if
one likes misty, neo-impressionistic music that blurs harmonies and melodies
into a gorgeous wash of sound.
The music is well played on this CD by the soloist Ralph van Raat, who also
contributed the laudatory liner-notes. The Cappella Amsterdam and Netherlands
Radio Chamber Philharmonic under their conductor Otto Tausk provide an excellent
accompaniment in the piano concerto.
This is an interesting CD that will appeal to a wide range of listeners who
are comfortable with Bryars’ approachable style. However the down-side of
this is that it could be argued that there is little to challenge the listener
in these three works. Certainly the musical sounds are superb and often deliciously
moving; however I do worry a little about the exposition of these pieces.
Perhaps the title Ramble on Cortona is in danger of summing up the
formal structures of all three works?
John France
An interesting CD that will appeal to a wide range of listeners who are comfortable with Bryars’ approachable style.