Search - Gavin Bryars :: Gavin Bryars: Biped

Dark and magnificent music

jjmmkk | Millbrook, NY | 07/23/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Merce Cunningham has been one of the great cultural forces of our time, from the 1950s to the present day. His long association with John Cage has altered how we see and conceive of dance as an art form. The long held tenet of this remarkable duo has been that dance and music are separate entities thrown together in performance. The music is not "dance music" and the dancers do not dance "to" the music. If Merce Cunningham were less loyal to the concepts of John Cage his popularity would be far greater than it is today because the music to which his spare but rich and intellectually challenging works were performed was invariably "difficult" for many viewers to listen to. Difficulty upon difficulty. Biped is one of Cunnungham's major works, pushing the boundaries of the technological envelope in it's use of haunting, projected ghostlike spectral dancers interacting with the live dancers on stage. But Biped stands apart for another reason. Gavin Bryars score. Bryars music, which managed to honor certain Cage-ean traditions - no obvious rhythmic structures for one thing - added something new... an ambiance of deep emotional resonance. It was something of a revelation to see Cunningham's work in such a sonic context and the combination lifted the evening into the realm of greatness. Happily, the score is as powerful on it's on as it was in the theater. A very rich experience."