Gavin BRYARS (b.1943)
New York
At Portage and Main [15.36]
One Last Bar Then Joe Can Sing [18.01]
New York [25.55]
Percussions Claviers de Lyon
L'Ensemble de Basse-Normandie/Dominique Debart
rec. No date provided, L’Autre Studio, Paris.
GB RECORDS BCGBCD17 [59.35]
In the notes to this disc, Gavin Bryars says, “the family of keyboard percussion
is as important as, say, the string family”. By “keyboard percussion” he means
instruments such as vibraphone, marimba, xylophone, glockenspiel, etc.; these
instruments are also commonly known as “tuned percussion” instruments, because
they play pitched notes. Bryars has long appreciated these instruments, and
his first opera, Medea, written in 1984, “included a quintet of tuned
percussion in the orchestra, replacing the more conventional violins”.
This disc features three works: the first two for a quintet of tuned percussion
instruments, and the third, New York, for the same quintet plus a chamber
orchestra. Bryars’ approach to this music is different from, say, Steve Reich’s
early works, which depended more on rhythm - and the relationships between
rhythms played by different instruments - than melody.
At Portage and Main is a subtly melodic work where the percussion instruments
play chords and melody, with cymbals providing the occasional wave of whitish
noise in the background. While it depends on a very strong pulsing rhythm,
the simple melody is very present, carrying the piece along through key changes,
yet maintaining, for most of the piece, the same consistent pulsing melodic
line. This is an attractive mood piece, with a soundscape that recalls ambient
music, yet with much more tuneful material. The recording of the instruments
blends them into what is often a blurry sound, somewhat like the way a string
quartet merges at times into a single unit, yet the sound is balanced and
attractive. The last few minutes of the piece are less structured, and the
music fades out into the silence from which it was born.
One Last Bar Then Joe Can Sing begins as an exploration of rhythm and
non-melodic sounds. It is a more impressionistic piece, which seems to have
little structure at first. After about three minutes, the music changes to
a slow, crawling melody that is built up by parts from different instruments.
In this piece, as in the first, the melodies materialise from a cloud of sound
resonating from the instruments, as throbbing chords make up a background
for the melodies. A third section of the piece, at around 7:30, gives another
change of tone, as cymbals and drums are heard, bells ding out occasional
notes, and the melodies fragment. Then a six-note rhythmic figure provides
a base for explorations in this sound-world, which sound somewhat like variations
as they overlay the steady foundation of this figure. With three minutes remaining,
the rhythmic structure breaks down, and the piece becomes more amorphous,
with occasional notes interrupting a throbbing background. We then return
to a blur of sound from bowed instruments that fades away.
None of the above really says much about the music. It simply describes what
happens. It’s hard to give an idea of this music, but One Last Bar Then
Joe Can Sing ends up being a very attractive work, in part because of
the variety of structures and rhythms used. Unlike some minimalist percussion
works that maintain more or less the same rhythm throughout, Bryars paints
textures with the percussion instruments, creating a realm that is attractive
and enjoyable.
The final piece, New York, features a larger group of musicians; at
25 minutes, it is also the most ambitious of the three works on the disc.
This time the same percussion group is featured together with an 18-member
chamber orchestra: strings, wind quintet and piano. It begins as a tense work,
with strings providing a very soft background for the percussion instruments,
which move ahead very slowly. It goes through a number of changes, and at
shortly after 6 minutes takes on a driving rhythm that brings to mind part
of Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians. While perhaps less melodic,
New York does have some of the same type of musical colouring, while
the urgent rhythm of the strings in this section recalls some of Philip Glass’s
recent music. As the piece continues, it sounds more like a chamber symphony
with percussion, than a concerto for percussion and chamber orchestra. The
strings play very compelling music until around the mid-point of the work,
where the tone changes again, this time bringing more attention to the winds
and percussion instruments. Just before 18 minutes, the tempo ramps up, and
the music becomes more intense and driving, then around 20 minutes there is
a pause as the strings and winds play plaintive melodies. These develop and
metamorphose into a final section which softly ends this work.
Once again, this description offers little to tell you what the music is really
like. Suffice it to say that New York is a very moving “symphony” for
strings, winds and percussion, and it is among the most compelling new works
I have heard in many years. While the first two percussion pieces are interesting
sound-scapes, and offer attractive music, New York is bold and moving
and offers unique multi-layered music that stands out for its emotional power.
I’ve listened to this work over and over, and each time I have enjoyed it
more.
I’ve been listening to Gavin Bryars’ music off and on since the late 1970s,
when I first discovered his earliest recordings on Brian Eno’s Obscure Records.
His music has always interested me, even though I haven’t kept up with his
prolific production. He has a unique sound-world, which, while borrowing from
minimalism and composers such as Morton Feldman, blends his own approach to
music – a combination of experimental and classical – into works that are
unique. Bryars’ Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet is one of the most
moving recordings I have in my collection. The present disc is highly enjoyable
and confirms that Bryars is a modern composer with a unique voice. This disc
gets better as it goes on, with New York, in my opinion, being by far
the best. Overall, this hour of percussion-based music makes for a wonderful
disc that anyone who is interested in non-atonal modern music, especially
with a minimalist sensibility, should hear.
Kirk McElhearn
A wonderful album of contemporary music that is highly enjoyable