February 20th, 2007
Gavin Bryars and Shakespeare’s Sonnets
Am delighted to see that Gavin Bryars is back, and this weekend sees the premiere of Nothing Like the Sun, an attempt by various musicians to rework and reinterprete Shakespeare’s sonnets. Taking place at The Courtyard Theatre in Stratford Upon Avon, it will be curated by Bryars, and the second half of the performance will feature his own piece, which sets several sonnets to music accompanied by specially commissioned visuals.
Musicians taking part include Antony Hegarty, Liz Fraser of The Cocteau Twins, Gavin Friday, Mira Calix and Natalie Merchant from 10,000 Maniacs. The artists pick their favourite sonnet, which will be spoken to the audience by an actor followed by the artist’s “response” to the sonnet. Apparently Natalie Merchant has chosen Sonnet 73 which opens with “That time of year thou mayst in me behold, When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang Upon those boughs which shake against the cold”, while Antony has opted for a gospel choir for his sonnet.
I’m probably most intrigued by the second half of this performance, as Bryars is an unbelievably talented composer. Around 1991, a friend loaned me a CD of his Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet that containted various tracks called ‘Tramp with Orchestra’ . It consists of several arrangements (’Tramp with Orchestra I’, ‘Tramp with Orchestra II (low strings)’, ‘Tramp with Orchestra III (no strings)’, ‘Tramp with Orchestra IV (full strings)’) intoned over by an elderly homeless man repeating the lines “Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet/Never Failed Me Yet/Jesus’ blood never failed me yet/If there’s one thing I know/is that he loves me so”. Listening to it again over the weekend, it still makes the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. Without doubt, it’s one of the most saddest pieces of music I’ve ever heard. In the early 1990s, the song was re-recorded with Tom Waits singing along with the old man’s vocals, but it smacked of high-jacking an already perfect piece that needed no updating.
There’s an extract of the Tom Waits version here but I’ve been trying to post the original versions of ‘Tramp with Orchestra’ here without much luck.
Will keep trying…
Links:
Details from the RSC
Gavin Bryars homepage.
February 20th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
Drop me a line if you’ve any more Qs I can help you with for the mp3 posting!
February 20th, 2007 at 11:14 pm
The story of “Jesus’ Blood” from the man himself:
http://www.gavinbryars.com/Pages/jesus_blood_never_failed_m.html
February 21st, 2007 at 8:53 am
Thanks Nialler, work got in the way yesterday but I’ll keep you posted.
Hi ballistic Niall, I’ve linked to that same link above (it’s where the extract of song is), but thank you. It’s a fascinating story isn’t it? Such an unusual way for a piece of music to come about too. Are you a Bryars fan?
February 21st, 2007 at 9:13 am
A throwback to the halcyon days of No Disco. Donal Dineen played an extract from the film with Tom Waits in it. As a side note The Frames used to do it as an interlude to “Monument.” Only the ever-so-clever got the reference…and snickered accordingly (hands up I was one of them).
February 21st, 2007 at 2:48 pm
Much as I love Mr. Waits I have to agree with you. His late arrival (after so long in the company of one voice) always felt like an unwanted intrusion. Must dig the CD out as I haven’t listened to it in years.
February 21st, 2007 at 3:19 pm
Hmmm, the first half of that gig sounds all a bit chin-strokey, what with artists “responding” to Shakespeare’s sonnets, but the Bryars’ part sound interesting.
I saw Jesus’ Blood and Sinking of the Titanic in Belvedere College in 2005. Fairly amazing it was too, with Gavin Bryars himself playing the double bass. Not wanting to reopen an old can of worms, I won’t mention the surname of the other Gavin who did vocals on Titanic…
February 21st, 2007 at 4:06 pm
Fustar, I hear ye, I just think those pieces are perfect the way they are; the old man’s voice doesn’t need any accompaniment.
Jim, I’m inclined to agree re the first bit,and ‘The Sinking of the Titanic’ is another of his finest hours.
The other unmentionable Gavin is also taking part in this new work.
February 26th, 2007 at 11:00 am
The Gavin you think is unmentionable? Is the stand out performer of the show according to the Guardian.
http://music.guardian.co.uk/live/story/0,,2021266,00.html
Gavin Friday gets slagged off on Irish blogs more than any other artist. You know what is funny? The artists you like are all lining up to work with him. Sounds like they’ve got more suss than you lot.
February 26th, 2007 at 1:37 pm
Caroline, if you read the comment above mine, I was paraphrasing Jim, not dissing Gavin Friday. In fact I think myself and the Dublin Opinion folk were the lone blog voices in praising Gavin F’s performance with Mary Margaret O’Hara at the Leonard Cohen tribute show, Came So Far For Beauty. A LOT of people gave them a hard time for their reinterpretation of Hallelujah, but I really liked it.
February 27th, 2007 at 10:23 pm
Sorry, yes, I was indeed addressing Jim, not yourself. And I am in automatic defensive mode whenever I see GF mentioned on Irish blogs.