A Portrait [IMPORT]

Gavin Bryars (Artist), Julian Lloyd Weber (Artist), Valerie Anderson (Artist), Tom Waits (Artist), Nexus Precussion Enasemble (Artist), Gavin Bryars Ensemble (Artist), English Chamber Orchestra (Artist)

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 2, 2002)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Import
• Label: Philips Import
• ASIN: B00007J4WD
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #112,737 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
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

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Adnan Songbook is hauntingly beautiful, April 10, 2009

By	Amy Knight - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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!