On some level instrumentation is absolutely central, as something about the vibrato of the strings Bryars highlights in his music (here focused on his own limpid playing, honed for years in free improv circles, notably in Joseph Holbrooke, and often at the center of his composing) suggests a watery quality. The instrumentation for the piece has varied over the years, incorporating string quartets and now (on this extraordinary version) turntablist Philip Jeck and the ensemble Alter Ego (strings, brass, winds, percussion, keyboards, tapes, sound design). Though Bryars had a personal connection to the Lockerbie crash that inspired the latter piece, one gets the sense that he’s reckoning with some larger forces. It’s interesting to consider the centrality of loss to Bryars’ conceptual worldview, and not just as a general category: two of his most arresting pieces, this one and “After the Requiem,” deal with transportation disasters that end in water graves. This version of Gavin Bryars’s seminal piece, The Sinking of the Titanic, was recorded at the 49th International Festival of Contemporary Music at The Venice Biennale on 1st October 2005 at the Teatro Maliban.Īlter Ego – Strings, Brass, Wind, Percussion, Keyboard, Tape Recorder and sound designġ Track – The Sinking of the Titanic (1969-) – 72:37īryars has been reworking this piece since 1969, slowly incorporating different approaches to sound into his meditation on death and memory.
CD in Special wallet + postcard – 1 track – 72:37
0 kommentar(er)
