Bryars, Gavin

Average customer rating:

i wanna clear things up for reviewer Ba "Ba"
Brian Eno
Achingly beautiful.
Love It
if you have even a passing interest in Ambient music....

Discreet Music

Manufacturer: Astralwerks
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B0002PZVGQ
Release Date: 2004-10-05

Tracks:

Discreet Music
Fullness Of Wind
French Catalogues
Brutal Ardour

Customer Reviews:

i wanna clear things up for reviewer Ba "Ba".......2006-08-28

the Canon in D major by Johann Pachelbel part of the cd is an actual intruments, only the first track is done with the reel to reel tape device. maybe people should read more liner notes.

Brian Eno.......2005-10-06

I simply do not understand how Brian Eno can get credit for running others' music thorugh a fancy FX loop, claim that its "ambient" music and get crdit for it as if people had never lsitened to music in the back ground.

Achingly beautiful........2005-06-13

One of the early masterpieces of ambient music, Eno's "Discreet Music" really defies description. Broken into two halves, the extended "Discreet Music" and "Three Variations on the Canon in D Major by Johann Pachelbel", the music is delicate, balanced, beautiful, and stirring.

"Discreet Music" consists, per Eno's description in the liner notes, of "two simple and mutually compatible melodic lines of different duration stored on a digital recall system" that are occasionally altered "by means of a graphic equalizer". Put simply, two loops play, of differing lengths, for the period of about 30 minutes, rising and falling, swelling and coming and going, intertwining with each other. What is most amazing is how these two simple statements can be so unbelievably powerful, emotionally overwhelming, and purely engaging. It is really one of the finest pieces in all of Eno's catalog.

The Pachelbel canon variations are somewhat less interesting, though still quite enjoyable Again from the liner notes, "[e]ach variation takes a small section of the score (two to four bars) as its starting point, and permutates the players' parts such that they overlay each other in ways not suggested by the original score". The result is breathtaking, and adds a familiar resonance to it.

Anyone interested in ambient music should likely start here or with Fripp & Eno's "No Pussyfooting". If you don't have "Discreet Music", you should. Essential listening.

Love It.......2005-04-07

The first, title track, is over 30 minutes of sonic bliss
that never ever gets boring and only gets better with
repeated listenings. Fantastic discreet music to play while
you're involved in creative activities. It's probably the best single
track of ambient music I've ever heard. The remainder of the CD,
at first, doesn't seem to match the mood...but after that initial
observation the BEAUTY shines through...so the whole CD is great.
The other Eno ambient CDs I'd recommend are: Ambient 2, with Mr.
Budd on piano; Ambient #4: On Land; and the Apollo Soundtrack CD.
As far as Ambient 1, Music for Airports...well, this is a prime candidate for the greatest CD of all time.
In sum, all other ambient CDs can only hope to be in the same
ballpark as these Eno masterpieces.

if you have even a passing interest in Ambient music...........2005-02-08

For an artist that has helped shape the musical map since the 70's, and remained a sterling producer, and also has a album workrate to put most musicians to shame, it's truly surprising that Brian Eno, has so many absolutely essential albums to his name.

Here we concentrate on the period where he Created/Produced a series of defining 'Ambient' albums in the mid-late 70's, that although not the first to produce ambient albums, mastered the form to such a degree, that some 20-30 years on, these albums are frequently referenced, when discussing the genre. Although as much an electronic album as it is an ambient album, the mood here is one of detached sounds, restrained instruments and a slightly Eerie, and atmospheric solitude. using a system of two reel-to-reel tape recorders, and making the (relatively) simple process of layering sounds on top of one another, Eno was able to make stark simple sounds, from such instruments as...keyboard, synth, organ, but layer them in such a way that although the music rarely changes direction, it's beauty comes in the form of its simplicity. The first track...the epic "Discreet Music" is really nothing more than a melancholic & slight sounding relaxation drone. But its what Eno does with the sound and the use of spacial sound, that truly makes this impressive. Brief compositions of synth are gradually brought in and out of the mix, and although most listeners won't realise it on the first listen, but the relation of these elements changes over time, albeit it very gradually, and coupled with the subtle use of noise and resonance, it reveals a sound of soothing 'ambience' that washes over the listener.

The "Three Variations on the Canon in D Major" is more consistent with the stylisation of 'Classical' music, with it less akin to 'Ambient' music, and more in keeping with the compositional elegance and arrangement of piano led orchestration. which has a rather melancholy and restless feel to it, and the tone of the strings/piano feels vastly different to the synth-led first track, and its arguably the more immediate track, due to its more noticeable increase in volume/tempo, and although a more rounded sound, still remains very delicate and gentle. In fact imagine these beautifully crafted tracks as works for soundtracks for films that were never filmed, as it's deeply beguiling and littered with the romanticism that became a trademark in Eno's series of 'Ambient' Albums. As it's all so precisely performed and tremendously realised, that one can't help but fall in love with this incredible album. If you picked up any of Eno's other 'Ambient' albums, I really can't stress enough, how utterly recommended this album comes, It's not only considered one of his finest 'Ambient' albums, but also just a truly exceptional album regardless of the genre. Utterly Essential

Bryars: Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet

Average customer rating:

excellent
Almost there (get rid of tom waits)
Unique and Magnificent
Borrow it first
Gavin Bryars Never Failed Me Yet

Bryars: Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet

Manufacturer: Philips
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Bryars: The Sinking Of The Titanic / Barnett, Bryars Ensemble, et al
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Sinking of Titanic-Jesus Blood
Real Gone
Gavin Bryars: Oi Me Lasso

ASIN: B0000040UT
Release Date: 1993-08-10

Tracks:

Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet: Tramp With Orchestra I (String Quartet)
Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet: Tramp With Orchestra II (Low Strings)
Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet: Tramp With Orchestra III (No Strings)
Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet: Tramp With Orchestra IV (Full Strings)
Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet: Tramp And Tom Waits With Full Orchestra
Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet: Coda: Tom Waits With High Strings

Amazon.com

This late minimalist, 74-minute piece for orchestra and tape has had, and continues to have, a near-legendary effect on its audience. It's the rare work created specifically to tug gently at one's heartstrings that actually does, and not subtly, either. It starts with a found recording of a homeless man singing a halting, simple melody looped over and over. Then Bryars builds and buttresses this with a full orchestra brought in incrementally, from the first carefully placed short pendulum string sweep to, 10 minutes from the end, the gravelly-voiced singer Tom Waits joins in. It's an obvious but effective work--appealing to all the basics of our emotional nervous system, but still tragically beautiful. --Robin Edgerton

Customer Reviews:

excellent.......2007-05-07

the item purchased is in perfect condition and it has been shipped in time

Almost there (get rid of tom waits).......2007-04-10

This is a pretty moving and relaxing piece, especially considering that a single sample is looped for 74 minutes but around it there is slow orchestral development. Near the end, it is completely destroyed by the annoying and gratuitous addition of Tom Waits. If you can, I suggest finding a shorter copy of it with no Tom Waits on it, apparently Bryars made a 60 minute version for tape and a 25 minute version for vinyl both before this one and both out of print for Brian Eno's Obscure label.

Unique and Magnificent.......2007-03-30

A fantastic work with an incredible story behind it. I originally heard an exerpt from this work which was played during a radio interview, and I was absolutely captivated. I think this CD is great, however my partner and a couple of friends have suggested it is a little too repetitive. I think the repetition, with such a subtle progression, is the key to this deeply moving album. I would highly recommend this as an interesting and unique addition to any music library. Be aware: playing the full CD may not be to everyone's liking, although I think most would enjoy some smaller portion of the 74+ minutes. I think few would not be touched by the story behind it!

Borrow it first.......2006-11-06

Buy CDs that you expect you'll want to play reasonably often; otherwise borrow them, as I did with this one, from a library - - that'd be my advice. Borrow it again if you find you want to listen to it again.

I don't think this is a religious piece; at least, to me it seems to be about experimentation (taken, as one reviewer put it, to the breaking point). It concludes with Mr. Waits sounding truly drunken.

I made it through the entire CD in two sittings.

Gavin Bryars Never Failed Me Yet.......2006-03-30

The controvery rages. Is it rubbish or a work of genius?

When I first heard the original on Sinking Of The Titanic, I thought it was really irritating, and I couldn't get the tune out of my head for days. I put the cd away for a few weeks......and then something made me pull it out and listen again. Still irritating.....but there was something about it that made me want to come back and give it another go. The third time around, I *really* started to listen -- and I was hooked. The gradual background (at first) orchestration grows into something fascinating and wonderful, and you just *have* to listen.

Forget about the religious aspect. It's doesn't detract from the music, and I don't think Bryars meant for this to be a religious work anyway. It's an extremely moving piece, simple, rich, and gloriously done. And probably unlike anything else you've ever heard.

Listening to a short clip won't do you any good, but the cd sells cheap enough to take a chance on for a complete listen. But be forewarned: even one complete listen ain't gonna do it. You'll have to stay with this one for a few more turns to appreciate it. You'll want to use the cd for an air catcher on your wind chimes at first, but hang in there, and you'll be richly rewarded.

Average customer rating:

TOTALLY FUN & FAB!
A DELIGHT

Children's Cello

Manufacturer: Bis
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Paul Tortelier

ASIN: B000FIGGNC
Release Date: 2006-05-23

Customer Reviews:

TOTALLY FUN & FAB!.......2006-07-12

Every aspect of this CD gets 5 stars. (Even the cover art is adorable!) I bought this because my daughter is a cello student; I keep hoping some of that good juicy Isserlis stuff will rub off if she keeps listening to the Grand Poo Bah play. We have lots of Isserlis CDs now. This CD has 30 short songs, in a wide variety of styles. All of them are full of color and character. Anyway, it's a great collection because either you know it and love it, or you don't but you should and you will.
Stephen Hough's piano artistry is perfect, as always, and he even wrote two unique and charming cello pieces (one more than Steven Isserlis wrote!) The Isserlis one is called "The Haunted House" and I won't give away any of the surprises in it, but my kid loved it, and started sleuthing out how she thought certain things might have been done, and yours probably will, too.
The liner notes will make you laugh and are full of bits of information about the pieces, composers and the musicians.
This was really a great idea and if you are a beginning or advanced student or a teacher you will like this CD a lot. It sets a good example of what the cello sounds like when a master plays it, whether it's a two note beginner piece or something more advanced. Hearing how these are done, some students will probably be inspired to go back and have another crack at a few of their old Suzuki book pieces, which are cool pieces, too. I think the main goal here was to inspire the student cellist, but I don't play cello or piano, I'm just the mom, and I still enjoy listening to it. It's definitely worth your 20 bucks or whatever, especially if your kid plays cello.

A DELIGHT.......2006-06-13

What a lucky little boy Steven Isserlis's son must be. His father is a leading cellist in the world and is good friends with a leading pianist of the world (Stephen Hough).The aforesaid two musicians are well known as a splendid chamber music team! Obviously (evidenced by this album) the son (Gabriel) is surrounded by great music. Also evidenced by this album, Gabriel has a loving father that is very much concerned for his musical education. This album, (that is geared towards the young would be cellist) comprises short works that are played splendidly by Hough and Isserlis.(Hough as always is the sensative accompanist;he matches Isserlis's most beautiful tones spendidly. Isserlis does play with gorgeous tones throughout this disc--he exhibits some of the most beautiful cello tones I've ever heard!) Not only children can enjoy this album but old farts like me can enjoy it too--I enjoyed the album immensely! Although the works on a "Children's Cello" require only a short attention span, they are very beautiful and intriguing (the album is filled with some of the most gorgeous short peices for cello and piano that I've ever heard!).

I particularly liked the compositions by Stutchewsky (from his "Six Israeli Melodies") along with the composition by Amy Beach. Steven and Stephen both contributed delightful compositions of their own to the recording. Isserlis's composition, "The Haunted House" has the esteemed actor, Simon Callow as narrator.

Do buy this album for any potential young musician or, like me, buy the album just to enjoy some wonderful rather unknown short works for cello and piano (some arrangements such as Boccherini's "Minute' are included also included is Mendelssohn's "Song Without Word" Opus 109)

(Steven Isserlis also wrote the notes in the album that are both informative and very humorous!)

Bryars: The Sinking Of The Titanic / Barnett, Bryars Ensemble, et al

Average customer rating:

Music For Sinking Ships
Unobtrusively ambient
Meditative
probably perfect...
Plaintive, haunted and hypnotic.

Bryars: The Sinking Of The Titanic / Barnett, Bryars Ensemble, et al

Manufacturer: Philips
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Solo Monk

ASIN: B0000040UW
Release Date: 1995-02-14

Tracks:

The Sinking Of The Titanic: Opening Part I
The Sinking Of The Titanic: Titanic Hymn (Autumn) All Strings
The Sinking Of The Titanic: Hymn II
The Sinking Of The Titanic: Interlude
The Sinking Of The Titanic: Hymn III
The Sinking Of The Titanic: Hymn IV (Aughton)
The Sinking Of The Titanic: Opening Part II
The Sinking Of The Titanic: Titanic Lament
The Sinking Of The Titanic: Woodblocks
The Sinking Of The Titanic: Last Hymn
The Sinking Of The Titanic: Coda

Amazon.com

Bryars's The Sinking of the Titanic is one of the oddest and at the same time most mesmerizing works to come out of this end of the century. It began in 1972 as an abstract art piece that kept on building and changing in the composer's mind. It's a ghostly tapestry of eerie echoes, distant sounds almost like whale songs, and interjected rifts representing the band that was playing even as the boat sank. This is a masterpiece that rewards repeated listenings. --Paul Cook

Customer Reviews:

Music For Sinking Ships.......2007-04-03

"The Sinking of The Titanic" is a beautifully subtle, evocative, and haunting work. Though composed before ambient music became its own genre, I would defintely describe it as such. Gavin Bryars utilizes strings, minimalist vocals and 'found sounds' to paint this mournful yet hopeful soundscape that seems to float. If you're looking for great ambient/contemporary classical music without any annoying bombastic percussion mucking things up, you'll love this gorgeous work.

Unobtrusively ambient.......2004-12-04

Like Phil Glass this piece relies on repeating relatively simple patterns in layers that slowly change the overall colour of the sound without any obvious melodic or key changes. Unlike Phil Glass rhythm has virtually no place in this piece. It moves like a light mist over the valley of your listening ear.

Predominantly strings, pensive but not unhappy in mood, it would be a fitting to have it playing in the submersible's cd player while you scouted around the wreck of the Titanic when it was on the bottom of the ocean, wondering about the what-ifs of the lives lost, who last drank out of that coral encrusted champagne glass, who's pocket that coin fell from...

Also good to go to sleep to if, like me, you love to drift off to music.

Meditative.......2001-02-06

I wonder how many people bought this recording thinking it had something to do with the "Titanic" movie? And if so, how many kept the recording? Their loss. This is a great work, well performed and recorded. Repetitious without being monotonous, it's the aural equivalent of watching light move across the water as seen from beneath the surface. Recommended to fans of Eno, Philip Glass, and their contemporaries.

probably perfect..........2000-06-25

This music destroys me. I'm a huge fan of pretty much everything Gavin Bryar's has recorded, but this one probably beats out all else. It's a tough call between this and 'Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet', but I think this one wins out. 'Titanic' is some of the most beautiful, haunting music that I've ever heard. I've heard it called good ambient music, good music to play in the background. I couldn't disagree more. This is music that -demands- every iota of your attention. Put it on, lie down, turn out the lights and just listen to the whole thing. It is a truly overpowering experience. Bryar's has a way of doing this.

Plaintive, haunted and hypnotic........2000-04-09

As Bryars explained in the sleevenotes, The Sinking Of The Titanic is a musical equivalence of a piece of conceptual art, I couldn't agree more. The plaintive, haunted and hypnotic piece creates a three-dimensional music-scape and effective draws the audience into it. Bryars is a minimalist, his mastery shines through the no nonsense arrangement of the piece. The Sinking, with its languid melodies, dreamlike tones and environmental noises, is reminiscent of the Ambient genre. But is should be noted that the piece was originally written in the late sixties, a time when the term "ambient" was yet to be coined. Also, The Sinking consists of mostly live orchestra sounds, which is way more sophisticated and transcendent than electronic sounds. Recommended!

Average customer rating:

Modern
Fascinating and captivating
perfection to little effect
Wonderful
Coldly beautiful

Soir, Dit-Elle
Oleh Harkavyy , Leonel Power , Gavin Bryars , Unspecified , Ivan Moody , Gregorian Chant , and Trio Mediaeval
Manufacturer: Ecm Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Words of the Angel
Stella Maris
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La Bele Marie: Songs to the Virgin from 13th-Century France

ASIN: B00012SZTK
Release Date: 2004-01-27

Tracks:

Kyrie
Gloria - Missa 'Alma Redemptoris Mater'
Laude Novella (Lauda II)
Ave Regina Gloriosa (Lauda VII)
Credo - Missa 'Alma Redemptoris Mater'
Ave Maria
Regina Caeli
Ave Donna Santissima (Lauda III)
Sanctus - Missa 'Alma Redemptoris Mater'
The Troparion Of Kassiani
Venite A Laudare (Lauda I)
A Lion's Sleep
Agnus Dei - Missa 'Alma Redemptoris Mater'
Alma Redemptoris Mater

Amazon.com

The Trio Mediaeval's first CD, Words of the Angel, was an ear-opener, a CD of mostly old music interspersed with some modern works, all ravishingly sung, and, oddly, very harmonious over its span of centuries. This CD features most of a mass by the 15th-century Englishman Leonel Power, with works by the Ukrainian Oleh Harkavyy (b. 1968) and the British Ivan Moody (b. 1964), Gavin Bryars (b.1943), and Andrew Smith (b. 1970); there is more new music than old. The Harkavyy Kyrie sounds "older" than all of the Power, which is oddly dense and surprising in its harmonies. A Bryars "Ave Regina" and "Laude Novella" (this last for solo voice) wafts in and out of oldness and modernity in novel but not uncomfortable ways, and Andrew Smith offers an "Ave Maria" and "Regina Caeli" which are distinctly modern but simply beautiful--and wonderfully pious. The two works by Ivan Moody, while not as staggeringly beautiful and daring as his contributions to the Trio's premiere CD, are almost as beautiful, growing in loveliness with each hearing. A Gregorian Chant ends this CD of devotional music. The whole is dizzyingly beautiful and endlessly interesting; the sonics are as gloriously clear and clean as the Trio's pitch, taste, and inherent sound. Don't do without this CD. --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews:

Modern.......2006-11-10

I was trying to be careful, listening to samples of the tracks before committing to buying, but I might not have listened to the right ones or maybe I didn't read the fine print. For some reason I had the impression these were old and traditional pieces of music: old meaning medieval, or thereabouts. Actually, most of them are modern, because the music (as opposed to the lyrics) has been composed relatively recently.

Despite the Latin lyrics, the beautiful voices, the slick production, and the overall air of antiquity and religiosity, I found I didn't enjoy the CD as much as I was hoping I would. The music is too unmelodic for me. At times it seems very harsh, dragging the singing along with it.

Anonymous 4 -- at least in A Mass for the End of Time -- is better.

Fascinating and captivating.......2005-07-30

I'm a huge fan of early music, but my taste tends to lead me down the road of the French cantata more than anything. I stumbled across this particular album at a local Border's and decided to give it a chance, knowing nothing about it.

I think it's simply fantastic. The vocals are pure and captivating, and the literature choice is first-rate; the combination of "true" early music, coupled with modern interpretation presents an excellent balance.

perfection to little effect.......2005-03-08

For those familiar with Trio Mediaeval's first record, WORDS OF THE ANGEL, it is impossible not to compare the two. I'm not talking about natural expectations, but of the fact that SOIR, DIT-ELLE seems to have been structured after WORDS.
Unlike WORDS, however, SOIR dwells greatly on modern repertoire. All contemporary pieces in SOIR seem to have been composed with skill and interpreted to perfection; still, it does not seem to me to be as engaging as WORDS. It wants variety; differences between 13th-century "Missa Alma redemptoris mater" and contemporary pieces are blurred by the homogeneity of mood of the latter: all want to be contemporary rework on medieval vocal music; all want to be slow, melodious and dissonant; all were composed having Trio Mediaeval as ideal performers; as a result, all resemble one another too much. When it comes to the solo pieces, for example, they seem more elaborated than the versions which served them as a starting point (available in WORDS), but it was precisely the original simplicity which made them so touching.
Even though Ivan Moody's pieces aren't as striking as "Words of the angel" (the impact of which is partly due to contrast between its "contemporariness" and the "medievalness" of the rest of WORDS' repertoire, by the way), they are still the most moving.
SOIR, DIT-ELLE is perfect, but still. Perfection may win you over in the end, but might not do much for you in the beginning. It is possible that those who don't know WORDS OF THE ANGEL should have a different take on it, and like it better.

Wonderful.......2004-07-03

This CD gets better each time I listen to it. There is a compelling perfection in the sound - it's sublime.

Coldly beautiful.......2004-06-03

Trio Mediaeval, a three-women European a cappella choir, presents here a minimalist programme of medieval three-part harmony mixed with 20th century pieces in the same style.

Leonel Power's (1370-1445) Missa "Alma redemptoris mater" is presented in its entirety but broken up with pieces by English composers Ivan Moody, Gavin Bryars and Andrew Smith, and Ukrainian Oleh Harkavyy. Power stood alongside John Dunstable as one of the great English composers of the 14th-15th centuries. This mass is probably one of the earliest to use the same "cantus firmus" in all four movements. The chant is repeated by the low voice throughout while the two upper voices create an intricate counterpoint.

The contemporary composers here draw their inspiration from ancient texts and chants to make their own individual polyphony, but sharing the same austere atmosphere as Power's mass.

Trio Mediaeval follows in the footsteps of Anonymous 4 in bringing the beauty of Medieval a cappella vocal music to the public. Tonally Trio Mediaeval is very similar to Anonymous 4 but doesn't quite match that group's precision of vocal delivery. Nevertheless, a nicely recorded album with a touch of cold beauty.

Gavin Bryars: Oi Me Lasso
Average customer rating:

IF NOT FOR BRYARS

Gavin Bryars: Oi Me Lasso

Manufacturer: Gavin Bryars
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Gavin Bryars: A Man in a Room, Gambling

The Moat Recordings

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Bryars: Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet

ASIN: B0007X9TL6
Release Date: 2005-04-12

Tracks:

Ave Vergene Gaudente (Lauda 17)
Oi Me Lasso (Lauda 4)
O Divina Virgo, Flore (Lauda 29)
Plangiamo Quell Crudel Basciar (Lauda 26)
Da Ciel Venne Messo Novello (Lauda 6)
Stomme Allegro (Lauda 13)
Omne Homo (Lauda 19)
O Maria D'omelia (Lauda 19)
Lauda Vollio Per Amore (Lauda 27)
Regina Sovrana (Lauda 8)
Alta Trinita Beata (Lauda 12)
O Maria Dei Cella (Lauda 15)
Ave Dei Genitrix (Lauda 9)
Laudamo La Resurrectione (Lauda 16)
Amor Dolce Senca Pare (Lauda 28)

Album Description

'Oi Me Lasso' is representative of a series of Gavin Bryars works inspired by the unaccompanied laudes (songs of praise to the Virgin Mary) popular in the later Middle Ages, particularly the 14th century collection known as Laudes Cortonese. The laudesi who originally sang the laudes banded together in confraternities but were not usually associated with any particular church, and this music was not part of any liturgy. Composing some 50 of these modern interpretations of the laudes has become an ongoing project for Bryars, slipped in between other projects he is working on. Each lauda is dedicated to the performer(s) for whom it was written, always including soprano Anna Maria Friman.

Anna Maria Friman is a member of the spectacularly successful Norwegian early music group Trio Medieval and she has made numerous solo appearances with important early and new music groups. John Potter was a member of the Hilliard Ensemble from 1984 to 2001 and was the founder of the early music group Red Byrd.

Customer Reviews:

IF NOT FOR BRYARS.......2005-08-16

Throughout Bryars' work -- from the conceptually driven pieces like "The Sinking of the Titanic" to the sacred works such as this -- there is always a sense of profound care and delicacy. With "Oi Me Lasso" Bryars has effectively brought the tranquility of Medieval Lauds within range of 21st century hearing.

If the sometimes overly homogenous tonality of plainchant and early music seem a bit shallow to your ears, "Oi Me Lasso" is an excellent way to hear the profound change in shading and depth that can be achieved by an appropriately more sophisticated sonic palette. Working strictly within the constraints of the form, Bryars creates more compelling settings without overtly disturbing the reflective nature of the traditional forms he utilizes -- or repurposes -- for these compositions. Bryars also plays on these recordings, but the weight of the performances belong to John Potter, a founder of Red Byrd, (an ensemble that has released some remarkable recordings, though much more aggressive in performance and interpretation than the music you'll find here) and Maria Friman of the already well-known Trio Medieval, each contributing work that is both restrained and beautiful.

"Oi Me Lasso" is a remarkable accomplishment, achieving a balance rich in both tradition and innovation.

Average customer rating:

JUST RECENTLY TIMELESS

On Photography

Manufacturer: Gavin Bryars
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Gavin Bryars: Oi Me Lasso
Gavin Bryars: A Man in a Room, Gambling
Bryars: Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet
Karlowicz: Returning Waves; A Sorrowful Tale; Episode at a Masquerade
The Moat Recordings

ASIN: B0009ML2II
Release Date: 2005-06-14

Tracks:

And So Ended Kant's Travelling In This World
La Mia Malinconia ...
S'i' Fosse Foco ...
La Stremita ...
Da Ispravitsja Molitva Moja
Expressa Solis
Expressa Solis/Tersa Perfetta
Resonare Fibris
The Lord's Prayer
Testament

Album Description

The first in a series of Gavin Bryar's recordings with the Latvian Radio choir featuring his own works and those of Latvian and other composers!

Customer Reviews:

JUST RECENTLY TIMELESS.......2006-03-06

With "On Photography" we are introduced to a broader range of interests than the recent and equally outstanding "Oi Me Lasso". Still, Bryars seems lately to be charged with making aspects of early and sacred music into something better-tuned to the contemporary ear. While the forms may be familiar, few composers are able to strike such a distinctive tonality. Turning as he often does to unusual texts for inspiration, Bryars here offers a fascinating piece drawn from the writing of Thomas de Quincy on the death of Kant. But the title piece may be the most interesting. In addition to being the first performance of his first piece for choir, "On Photography" features Bryars performing on harmonium and imparting a melancholic, slowly breathing sense of life to the title work.

The performances are as meticulous as the compositions, imbued with great detail and a pronounced tendency to avoid more typical turns and familiar cadences. Production and final mix reveal a detailed soundstage with concise placement, left to right as well as front to back. There are equally compelling pieces by Maskats and Silvestrov -- whose 2004 ECM release, "Silent Songs" deserves your attention as well. Each composer here provides an excellent complement to Bryars' compositions.

There are several seemingly more popular artists at work on similar ground today. From the perspective of performance, Trio Medieval (again, check into "Oi Me Lasso") and even at times Anonymous 4 come to mind. Among composers, you may find Bryars associated with Arvo Part or John Tavener, or the many works of past and contemporary composers performed by the Hilliard Ensemble. Yet Bryars demonstrates a well-developed sense of and feel for modernity that the others often and deliberately set aside. And he does this without cutting himself or the listener completely off from past traditions. Consequently, his work is immediately recognizable, while never becoming as outwardly ornamental, abstract or as overtly sentimental as that of many others. Importantly, the subjects which he chooses are not strictly scared, as likely coming from this world than exclusively from "the next" -- "Sinking of the Titanic"; and "A man in a room, gambling" are only two more demonstrations of his ability to take moments from every day life and set such egalitarian experiences to such remarkable music. Which is why Bryars' work is proving to be some of the most consistently interesting and unique in the contemporary catalog, in touch with making the routine anything but, and more capable of becoming and remaining intimately connected to our world and our lives.

"On Photography" is still another example. Here, the work results from a singular aesthetic sensibility that has been refined and distilled to create music of complexity, restraint, purposeful beauty and intellect that places it among the most rewarding of the late 20th or extremely early 21st century I've heard.

Average customer rating:

Myths 3: La Nouvelle Serenite

Manufacturer: Sub Rosa
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Ambient | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | Techno | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Minimal Techno | Techno | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Electronica | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | New Age | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

1980s | By Decade | Pop | Styles | Music

Experimental Music | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

RockPaperScissors
Money for All
Distance
Wonderful World EP
My Life in the Bush of Ghosts

ASIN: B00000B5AV
Release Date: 2006-06-06

Tracks:

Map Of Dusk - Jon Hassell
Cartago Sand Dancing - Harold Budd/Eugen Bowen
Strange Thunder - Harold Budd/Eugen Bowen
Sketch For Sub Rosa - Gavin Bryars/Andrew Thomson
8 Perspectives Romanes - Les Archives Sonores

Average customer rating:

Soaring with Agamemnon

Manufacturer: Marquis Music
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00000IGMA
Release Date: 1999-03-23

Tracks:

Burlesque
Pop's Cycle (Electric Ste): I. Potpourri
Pop's Cycle (Electric Ste): II. Song Of Light
Pop's Cycle (Electric Ste): III. Ripsnorter Finale
Andante From Sagittarius
The South Drowns (By Gavin Bryars)
Rondo In Stride
Eclogue
The Swan Sees His Reflection
Eight Duets For Young Celleists: I. Pitter Patter, Mouse In Batter
Eight Duets For Young Celleists: II. You And Me
Eight Duets For Young Celleists: III. The Mystery Of A Cave
Eight Duets For Young Celleists: IV.The Funny Bone
Eight Duets For Young Celleists: V. Two Giraffes
Eight Duets For Young Celleists: VI. The Sad Clown With A Happy Face
Eight Duets For Young Celleists: VII. Ambling Along
Eight Duets For Young Celleists: VIII. Hop, Step, Skip
Spiegel Im Spiegel (By Arvo Part)

Average customer rating:

Stick with the vocal music

Vita Nova

Manufacturer: Ecm Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Ballets | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Minimal Techno | Techno | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

ECM Classical | ECM Records | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music

ECM Jazz & World | ECM Records | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music
ASIN: B0000031YN
Release Date: 1994-05-10

Tracks:

Incipit Vita Nova - David James/Annemarie Dreyer/Ulrike Lachner/Rebecca Firth
Glorious Hill - The Hilliard Ens
Four Elements - Large Chm Ens/Roger Heaton
Sub Rosa - Gavin Bryars Ens

Amazon.com essential recording

Gavin Bryars writes for specific instrumentalists and singers rather than for performers in general--a powerful motivating force that--as Handel, Mozart, Britten, and others, including Bryars, have shown--often inspires great music. Bryars is a mature, thoughtful composer whose versatility--he writes for several different instrumental and vocal combinations here--never inhibits his originality. And his originality never comes at the expense of accessibility. The music is tonal yet unpredictable, intelligent yet unpretentious. "Incipit Vita Nova," for male alto and string trio, is a response to the birth of a friend's child. Its simple beauty and sensitive instrumental scoring sets the tone for the entire album. "Glorious Hill," commissioned by the Hilliard Ensemble, is a triumph of text, texture, timbre, and of the unique expressive power of the human voice. There are many rewards on this album, from the stirring, sometimes disturbing, always enticing music, to the all-around, top-of-form performances. --David Vernier

Customer Reviews:

Stick with the vocal music.......1999-07-13

The two vocal works, "Incipit Vita Nova" and "Glorious Hill", are captivating and beautiful, and I give them 5 stars. However, the two "jazz"-oriented instrumentals, "Four Elements" and "Sub Rosa", drone on excruciatingly (and I'm a Morton Feldman fan, not in principle opposed to slowly evolving patterns).

Music Composers:

Music Composers

Music Composers