Gavin Bryars - The Most Fascinating Facts Anywhere
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1. He was born in Goole, Yorkshire
Bryars was born in 1943 in the East Riding town of Goole. He studied philosophy before turning fully to music.
2. He began as a jazz bassist
In the 1960s he played double bass in the Joseph Holbrooke Trio with Derek Bailey and Tony Oxley. He gave up improvising in the late 1960s.
3. He co-founded the Portsmouth Sinfonia
The orchestra, begun in 1970, was made up largely of non-musicians playing classics. Brian Eno played clarinet.
4. Brian Eno released his early works
The Sinking of the Titanic and Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet were issued on Eno's Obscure Records label in 1975. The label helped bring minimalism to a rock audience.
5. The Sinking of the Titanic is built on a legend
It imagines the ship's band still playing as it sank, with the sound slowly dissolving into the sea. The piece was first performed around 1969 and developed over time.
6. Jesus' Blood is built on a tape loop
In 1971 Bryars looped a recording of an unknown homeless man singing a few lines of a hymn. The loop became the basis for an orchestral piece.
7. The tramp's voice was found by chance
The recording came from film footage shot near Elephant and Castle in London. Bryars noticed the tune fitted the loop's key.
8. Tom Waits sang on a later version
A 1993 recording added Waits's gravelly voice, singing along with the original tape. It ran about 74 minutes.
9. He wrote operas
Medea was staged in 1984 with director Robert Wilson. Doctor Ox's Experiment later appeared at English National Opera.
10. His work blends ambient and classical
Bryars has written for string quartets, choirs and chamber groups. He is often grouped with British experimental composers.
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