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A Portrait
Nexus Precussion Enasemble, Gavin Bryars Ensemble, English Chamber Orchestra
A Portrait
Genres: Dance & Electronic, Special Interest, Pop, Classical
 
  •  Track Listings (12) - Disc #1
  •  Track Listings (12) - Disc #2

Philips's collection of major works that have propelled Gavin Bryars to New Music stardom is an effective overview of his music. The longest work is his Cello Concerto, handsomely played by Julian Lloyd Webber with a big, ...  more »

     
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Philips's collection of major works that have propelled Gavin Bryars to New Music stardom is an effective overview of his music. The longest work is his Cello Concerto, handsomely played by Julian Lloyd Webber with a big, colorful tone and sustained intensity throughout its contemplative half-hour. A comparable mood pervades the bright tintinnabulating textures of the whimsically titled One Last Bar, Then Joe Can Sing. Similar as well, in their attractive serenity and suppressed sadness, are many of the other works here, prime among them the viola concerto in all but name, The North Shore, a tone painting of the rugged cliffs of northeast England. Adnan Songbook, settings of six poems by Lebanese poet Etel Adnan, are beautifully sung by soprano Valerie Anderson and delicately scored for a small ensemble. Bryars's biggest hits, The Sinking of the Titanic and Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet, have inspired him to numerous reworkings and capsuled fragments. They're represented by Titanic Lament, depicting a hymn tune dissolving into gray, watery textures, and two very different four-minute versions of Jesus' Blood, both with Tom Waits. Some will find Bryars's brand of minimalism veering too closely to New Age music, but others will immerse themselves in a sound world of originality and refined beauties. --Dan Davis

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CD Reviews

Adnan Songbook is hauntingly beautiful
Amy Knight | 04/10/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this CD primarily for tracks 2 - 9 on disc two, a collection of pieces called the Adnan Songbook. These songs are the poems of Etel Adnan, a poet born and raised in Beirut Lebanon, born to a Muslim Syrian father and a Christian Greek mother. British composer and musician Gavin Bryars set these 9 poems of hers to music. The words are sung by British lyric soprano Valerie Anderson. I heard these tracks in February 2009 on WGBH, Boston public radio and I was immediately mesmerized by the beauty of the music and the wonderfully clear, pure voice of Valerie Anderson. The works are haunting, beautiful, otherworldly and powerful. I recommend this disc, purely for those tracks, alone, with the highest praise I can give. Buy it!"