Gavin Bryers (b. 1943), legendary English composer, double bass player and conductor, during his long creative and performing career, he tried his hand at many musical genresand - from jazz and improvisation to minimalism, avant-garde and experimental music. His razor-sharp talent and boldness to not recognize boundaries in sound have made him undisputed not only in contemporary classical music, but also among important jazz and rock artists: Brian Eno, Aphex Twin, Tom Waits, Lee Konitz and Charlie Haden are just a few of them. great people who are Bryers' fans and collaborators on very interesting musical projects.
For those coming from the rock culture, Brayers' role in the early artistic maturation of pop visionary Brian Inn, whose esteemed label Obscure Records was founded in the mid-seventies of the last century to publish a couple of Bryers' works, as well as an album Discreet Music (1975). On that record, Bryers and Eno together created a new genre, which critics would soon call "ambient music", and for which Eno would become world famous. For those who come from avant-garde culture, Gavin Briers is one of the authentic pioneers of European art music, who have always defended the freedom of creation and pushed the boundaries of what is allowed in creation.
Gavin Bryers will be a guest at the end of October Ensemble for other new music in Belgrade. During two evenings at the Cinema Balkans concerts of his music will be held, as well as a conversation with the audience, as part of the second edition of the festival Patterns and stitches. It should be recalled that in December 2023, four members of this ensemble - pianists Nada Kolundžija, Branka Parlić, Nataša Penezić and Lidija Stanković - held a concert in Liverpool in honor of Bryers' 80th birthday, in which the composer himself took part.
The arrival of Gavin Bryers is part of the celebration of 90 years of existence British Council.
"WEATHER" Dear Mr. Briers, would you be so kind as to recapitulate the very beginnings of your musical explorations that you undertook as a child? When did you actually first become aware of sounds and their effect on you? Do you remember any special moments??
photo: oliver abraham...
GAVIN BRYERS: I come from a musical family. My mother was an amateur cellist, and my father was a bass-baritone who sang in church and in amateur opera. My uncle was an organist and choirmaster, and I had an aunt who was a pretty good concert pianist. My earliest memory of music is probably my mother practicing the cello.
Forwards, what were the first sounds that really fascinated you? When you feel like playing them?
I don't think there were any particular sounds that fascinated me, as you say, but having lived by a large river, I well remember the sound of ships' sirens in bad weather. Since I come from a small, semi-rural environment, as a child I understandably listened very closely to the sounds of nature, especially the wind.
When, in fact, did you first feel the need to play an instrument? And what instrument was that??
My first instrument was the piano and my mother started teaching me to play it when I was about five years old, but after a year she realized that I should get a much more qualified teacher than her.
What was basically the connection between music and your philosophy studies at the University of Sheffield?
I set out with the intention of studying music, but at the time at the University of Sheffield it was only possible if you were studying languages at the same time, so I switched to philosophy for those reasons.
How did you come to start playing jazz?, back when you were in college?
I listened to jazz as a teenager and already played jazz on the piano with a few friends. But I always wanted to play the double bass, and there weren't really any in my town. Then I came across an old, scrapped bass in the basement of the music department and was allowed to fix it, and then I taught myself to play it. In my first year of university I was still mainly performing with student bands, but by my second year I had already met Derek Bailey and Tony Oxley and thus started working as a real professional musician, even though I was still formally a philosophy student. When I graduated, I just kept playing with them.
Was your family supportive of your new career choice??
My father died when I was very young – only nine years old – and being the fourth of five children, the older three had already left home. So my mother raised me and my younger brother alone. To answer your question - my mother always supported everything I did and, although she was a classical musician, she was happy to come to some of my jazz performances.
How do you remember the famous saxophonist Lee Konitz from those jazz days? You accompanied him with the band on your first real professional tour - maybe he gave you some important advice about your future career even then?
The already mentioned trio (named Joseph Holbrooke - ed.) that I had with Derek and Tony played free improvisation at the time, and Lee also experimented with that approach to sound to some extent. But it turned out that we mostly played on that tour bib, and a live recording from a club in 1966 shows how we were actually pretty good at it. Lee really liked my playing and I was to perform with him again some 20 years later, I think it was 1987. He was also genuinely interested in the possibility of taking part as a musician in my first opera. Medea, around the time we started hanging out again in New York in 1982.
After all, why did you choose composing as your main field of work?? Was it because you felt you had a story of your own to tell the world??
I became very dissatisfied with improvised music - despite playing at a very high level - and felt the need to switch to composing where I could work in a much more thoughtful, reflective way than was possible in improvisation. I didn't really have any particular ambitions.
What was the situation of young composers at that time?? Were there enough opportunities and audiences for your work??
Actually, it was always difficult, because neither I nor my musical friends and colleagues in the world of English experimental music received any official support of any kind - I mean the BBC, the Arts Council of Great Britain, a professorship at a university or a conservatoire - since they simply considered us "dangerous". So we were forced to create our own conditions and opportunities for our musical work.
Which older composers were your main inspirations? - we mean not only those of the New York school like John Cage, Earl Brown or Morton Feldman?
I actually studied the works of Olivier Messiaen, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and many other European composers, but I was definitely most interested in composers from the East Coast of the USA.
How did you meet John Cage and what impression did he make on you??
I first met Cage at Merce Cunningham's shows in London in 1966. He immediately showed a great interest in what I was doing, and eventually I even became his assistant at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1968, while he was visiting professor there. John Cage was probably the biggest influence on me back in the day and I have to say that I still feel his influence - although not in the way that my music sounds. Cage's greatness is precisely contained in the fact that none of those who studied with him ever wrote music that sounded like his.
How did you decide to start composing? The sinking of the Titanic (The Sinking of the Titanic), one of your first and most performed pieces of music? Did you know where it would take you?
It is absolutely not clear to me where the idea came from The sinking of the Titanic. Although this piece was written in 1969, there are people who were with me in Illinois in 1968 and remember me talking about it back then. I certainly had no idea where it would lead me - I simply followed new leads of inspiration, one after another, like some old fashioned detective.
In Belgrade, we will listen to your famous composition The blood of Jesus has never failed me yet(Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet), in a special arrangement for our outstanding Ensemble for other new music. This is definitely one of the most emotional contemporary works. What will you try to explore during the live performance of this piece at the concert in Belgrade? What are the reactions to this work around the world and what do you expect will happen with the Serbian audience?
I am currently working on a new version of this piece for Serbia, although of course it retains that central element of the voice of the old homeless man, which I came across quite by accident. Since its creation in 1971, this work has left a strong impression on many listeners - but it must be said that there are also many people who hate it! Anyway, with this new version The blood of Jesus… I'm really starting to enjoy the different kinds of keyboard sonorities, even more than the orchestral music from the original performance.
photo: christian palm...
How did Tom Waits contribute his vocals to the reissue of this composition from 1993?. years for the publishing house Point? How do you remember working with him today??
I met Tom a few years earlier, because at that time he also worked with the director Robert Wilson, who staged my first opera. Medea. I asked him about the possibility of appearing in my second opera… To my surprise, Tom Waits had the original recording of the piece The blood of Jesus has not yet failed me from the old one Obscure Records record we did with Brian Eno in 1975 and he told me it was one of his favorite compositions. The time we spent together, working on a section of it in Northern California after the rest was already recorded, is one of the happiest musical memories of my life.
Jazz music is obviously an inexhaustible source of influence on your art. You also collaborated with Charlie Haden on the album Goodbye philosophy (Farewell to Philosophy) from 1996. What was your impression of one of the most prominent jazz double bassists, Charlie Hayden, as a person and an artist?
Charlie and I got along great and were very close friends. We saw each other whenever he was in England and also whenever I was in Los Angeles. He was very intelligent, but with that direct and simple honesty.
How did you meet Brian Inn and under what circumstances did it happen??
I first met Brian when he was a student at Winchester College of Art. He used to come to the concerts I gave in London, somewhere between 1969 and 1972, especially when I would perform with the pianist John Tilbury.
How would you explain your influence on Ino's work today?, as well as its eventual impact on yours? Was there an instant understanding between the two of you right from the start?
His work didn't influence me at all, although I'm pretty sure I influenced him. We became friends and worked together, especially on a series of records for his label Obscure Records during the 1970s. We are still good friends, and I sing to him every year Happy birthday on the phone…
How important do you think Ino's contribution to the development of creative music in general is??
His influence was undoubtedly strongest in the field of record production and the development of ambient music from the late 1970s onwards.
Can you briefly explain to us what Ino and you wanted to do together at the beginning of the collaboration and what was your artistic goal that you both aspired to achieve through music?
Brian felt that there is a lot of contemporary music outside the realm of the "official" European avant-garde, which is much more accessible and comprehensible, without being at all artistically simplistic, so we worked together to present exactly this huge spectrum.
What do you think about that remix version The sinking of the Titanic from 1995. years, which is called The sinking of the Titanic(Raising the Titanic) made by electronic artist Afex Twin? Do you otherwise follow the work of Richard D. James (Apex Twin's real name - first. aut.) and do you feel there are any similarities with yours?
Philip Glass mentioned to me that Richard wanted to do a remix Titanic and, instead of just letting it intervene on that already existing recording, I provided it with many components, so that it could have more elements to work with. I think he did a great job. Admittedly, I haven't followed much of what he does since then, and I really don't find much similarity to what I do. However, I have included short excerpts from that remix of his in other performances Titanic...
How important was composer John White and his minimalism for you?? And what were the basic differences between American and European, that is, English minimalist music?
John was an amazing composer and a very close friend and colleague of mine who I worked with for many years. He was immensely important in developing my awareness of many aspects of composing. And as far as English minimalism is concerned, it has always been more understated, but also much more subtle than American or European. He had a distinct sense of humor and just didn't take himself too seriously.
John White passed away earlier this year. Is that what the composition will White's SS (White's SS) dedicated to him to be performed in Belgrade - a kind of tribute from you to an exceptional colleague?
Branka Parlić has been playing this piece for some time, so performing it on this occasion is really a kind of tribute to a dear friend.
You have attained the rank of Transcendental Satrap within the College of Pataphysics. Would you be so kind as to explain to us what pataphysics is to you and why you decided to take part in such an activity?
One thing we are always told is to never try to define pataphysics. For me it is more like Zen Buddhism ie. to be something you can have inside of you without even knowing it. The rank I have achieved is the highest within the College, which places me in a truly long tradition. There are very few Transcendental Satraps in the world, you know, and I am honored to be among those of the past - like Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray, Eugène Ionesco, Italo Calvino...
Finally, Do you think that you have developed a new vision of music with your work and which piece would be the best example of that in your opinion??
I'm probably not the person who could answer the question about a "new vision of music" - I just keep writing and performing as best I can. But there are really some newer pieces that I would say maybe hit the mark in that sense - say, String sextet from 2023 or another choral piece I wrote for The Crossing chamber choir in part A Native Hill from 2019.
