Journal Entries
Juan Muñoz, a tribute (note written September 2001)
April 12, 2011
Juan Muñoz, a tribute Juan Muñoz (died August 28th 2001) I was extremely shocked and upset when I learned of Juan’s sudden death, which happened when he was on holiday with his family on Ibiza.
Iarla O’Lionaird and Anáil Dé
February 24, 2011
Gavin’s note On March 5th we will finally put together the whole of the Anáil Dé project, which Iarla O’Lionaird and I have worked on for over three years. Anáil Dé, which translates as “The Breath of God”, is based on settings of Old Irish spiritual texts dating from the 8th to the 16th century.
The Morrison Songbook
February 3, 2011
The Morrison Songbook sets texts by my long time collaborator Blake Morrison. Blake had written a number of poems intended to be set as madrigal texts for my First Book of Madrigals.
Forthcoming Recordings
January 23, 2011
1. BCGBCD18 Mercy and Grand A live recording of Opera North’s Project’ on the songs of Tom Waits/Kathleen Brennan from the ensemble’s final concerts in Leeds at the end of its 2008 tour.
New Work (La La La Human Steps)
January 5, 2011
The new project with Edouard Lock looks to the Baroque and involves a reworking of music from Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, just as our previous collaboration, Amjad, took the Romantic ballet – Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty as its source.
Morrison Songbook
November 7, 2010
Morrison Songbook Premiere My First Book of Madrigals was written for the Hilliard Ensemble between 1998 and 2002. One of the disadvantages of writing such a work is that it is tied to a very specific configuration of voices.
Two New Album Releases
September 20, 2010
The recording that I made with Percussions Claviers de Lyon in May is released in UK and Ireland on September 20 2010 (digital release September 19 2010) – New York (BCGBCD17).
Akademie Schlöss Solitude, near Stuttgart Twentieth Anniversary
July 17, 2010
In 1992 I was appointed music juror for the Akademie Schlöss Solitude, an extraordinary place and an even more extraordinary concept. At the time I was there, 7 disciplines were covered within the Akademie and the Akademie director, Jean-Baptiste Joly, appointed a chairman – then Johannes Cladders – who selects, for each discipline, a juror whose task it is to select people to work and reside in the Akademie.
Mojo
June 2, 2010
The new issue of Mojo Magazine is edited by Tom Waits and includes a cover CD which contains his choice of music which has influenced him.
Ralph van Raat on Piano Concerto
March 1, 2010
Ralph van Raat writes: On February 19th, 2010, the moment had finally come, to which the Borletti-Buitoni Trust and I had looked forward for four years: the première of Gavin Bryars’ Piano Concerto ‘The Solway Canal’, a co-commission of the BBT and the Dutch radio
Forthcoming Recordings
February 25, 2010
Forthcoming Recordings 1. UK Release April 5 2010 (Digital release April 4) (i) BCGBD06 – I Send You This Cadmium Red Radiophonic conversation between John Berger and John Christie, with music by Gavin Bryars; plus Gavin Bryars: The Island Chapel
Piano Concerto (“The Solway Canal”)
February 19, 2010
On February 19 and 20 Ralph van Raat gave the premiere of my piano concerto in Holland. The performance in Utrecht on February 19 was broadcast live and streamed online by Netherlands Radio and the second performance, in Amsterdam, was recorded for release on Naxos along with other works of mine.
Piano recording with Ralph van Raat
February 7, 2010
During the course of working with Ralph van Raat on the piano concerto, we talked about other pieces. Strictly I have written almost nothing for solo piano, but Ralph wants to add other piano works of mine to the CD of the piano concerto which he plans to record for Naxos.
The Life and Work of Derek Bailey on “Celebrity Mastermind”
January 4, 2010
Karen Brookman, Derek Bailey’s widow, had alerted me that on television (BBC One) the show “Celebrity Mastermind” would have Stewart Lee – the comedian, and co-author of Jerry Springer, The Opera – answering, for his specialist subject, questions on The Life and Work of Derek Bailey.
Solo Piano
December 17, 2009
I’ve just received from France a recording of the solo piano concert that I performed at the Pompidou Centre on November 9 2009. There is a photo on the cover of the CDR.
Welcome to my new web site!
December 3, 2009
Welcome to my web site, which has been substantially redesigned with many new features. I will deal personally with most aspects of the site and give regular journal notes on what is going on, on forthcoming projects, on background information and so on.
Music for Anya Tchernakova’ film
November 23, 2009
The Premises Studio, London My wife Anya has been working on a new film in Moscow for some time, provisionally called “Our Tchekhov”, and we spent the day together recording the music for this.
At Portage and Main
November 13, 2009
Les Percussion Claviers de Lyon, Salle Varèse, Conservatoire de Lyon, France I had been commissioned to write a piece for tuned percussion quintet by my old friend Gérard Lecointe, who plays in my ensemble.
Solo piano recital, Pompidou Centre, Paris
November 10, 2009
My friend Daniel Caux died last summer and his wife Jacqueline made a documentary film in homage to him. Daniel was a great writer, broadcaster, critic, curator with whom, I had worked since 1979.
Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet
October 20, 2009
Charity Concert for “Marginalised” at Union Chapel, Islington, London This was the first time that I have performed Jesus’ Blood with my own ensemble in London since 1993, and the first time I have played it at all with them since Brussels in 1997.
Four I Tatti Madrigals
October 14, 2009
Singer Pur, Villa I Tatti, Florence, Italy I had written a madrigal (Book Four no.1) for the Villa I Tatti (The Harvard Centre for Italian Renaissance Studies) in 2004 and I was asked to write some pieces in memory of Craig Hugh Smyth, a former director, in whose name a new library was being opened
Leonard Cohen’s Song of Bernadette arranged by Gavin Bryars and performed by Melanie Doane with the Art of Time Ensemble
May 27, 2009
CBC Radio 2 – Concerts On Demand: Melanie Doane with the Art of Time Ensemble: Canadian Songbook III
Adelaide Hall
January 30, 1998
Adelaide Hall’s concert at the Studio Theatre, Haymarket, Leicester, 30 January 1988 Interview with Gavin Bryars (Photo 1: rehearsal with Mick Pyne, piano; GB bass) (Photo 2: performance)