Gavin Bryars is an English composer and double bassist. He has been active in, or has produced works in, a variety of styles of music, including jazz, free improvisation, minimalism, historicism, experimental music, avant-garde and neoclassicism. Born in Goole, in East Yorkshire, England, Bryars studied philosophy at Sheffield University but became a jazz bassist during his three years as a philosophy student. The first musical work for which he is remembered was his role as bassist in the trio Joseph Holbrooke, alongside guitarist Derek Bailey and drummer Tony Oxley. The trio began by playing relatively traditional jazz before moving into free improvisation. However, Bryars became dissatisfied with this when he saw a young bassist (later revealed to be Johnny Dyani) play in a manner which seemed to him to be artificial, and he became interested in composition instead. Bryars’s first works as a composer owe much to the New York School of John Cage (with whom he briefly studied), Morton Feldman, Earle Brown and minimalism. One of his earliest pieces, The Sinking of the Titanic (1969), is an indeterminist work which allows the performers to take a number of sound sources related to the sinking of the RMS Titanic and make them into a piece of music. Bryars’s later works have included A Man In A Room, Gambling (1992), which was written on commission from BBC Radio 3 and Artangel. Bryars’s music is heard beneath monologues spoken by the Spanish artist Juan Muñoz, who talks about methods of cheating at card games. The ten short works were played on Radio 3 without any introductory announcements, and Bryars is quoted as saying that he hoped they would appear to the listener in a similar way to the shipping forecast, both mysterious and accepted without question. Bryars has written a large number of other works, including four operas, and a number of instrumental pieces, among them three string quartets and several concertos. He has written several pieces for choreographers, including Biped (1999) for Merce Cunningham. Between 1981–1984 he participated in the CIVIL warS, a vast, never-completed multimedia project by Robert Wilson, who also directed his first opera "Medea". He has also written a large body of vocal and choral music for groups such as the Hilliard Ensemble, the Latvian Radio Choir, the Estonian National Men’s Choir, Red Byrd, Trio Mediaeval and has written a great deal for early music performers including 5 books of madrigals and a collection of over 40 "laude". Bryars When Harry Met Addie (a tribute to jazz singer Adelaide Hall and saxophonist Harry Carney) was premiered at the Duke Ellington Memorial Concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London on 1 May 1999. The piece was performed by the London Sinfonietta Big Band and was commissioned by the baritone saxophonist/bass clarinettist John Surman. Cristina Zavalloni sang the soprano and the London Sinfonietta Big Band was conducted by Diego Masson· Bryars founded the music department at Leicester Polytechnic (now De Montfort University), and taught there for a number of years, but left in 1994 to concentrate on composition and performance. He lives in England, and, for part of the year, on the west coast of Canada.
for male choir
for: Male choir
Choir score
Item no.: 1545776
for male choir
for: Male choir
Choir score
Item no.: 1545212
Purcell arr. Bryars for SATB choir or four solo voices
for: gemischter Chor (SATB) oder 4 Soli
Music score
Item no.: 793897
für achtstimmigen Männerchor
Choral Music of Our Time
for: Male choir
Score
Item no.: 660887
for 2 pianos 4 hands
for: 2 pianos
Music score
Item no.: 756457
for: 9 Klarinetten
Set of parts
Item no.: 727194
for unaccompanied female voices
for: Sopran solo und 3 Soprane
Score
Item no.: 459506
Singstimmen a capella
for: Singstimmen a cappella
Score
Item no.: 556793
for solo cello
for: Cello
Music score
Item no.: 750606
for voices and instruments
for: Singstimmen und Instrumente
Score
Item no.: 566229
for 2 pianos 4 hands
for: 2 pianos
Item no.: 175177
for female choir
for: Women's choir a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 1545309
for two violins
for: 2 violins
Item no.: 174219
for male choir
for: Male choir
Choir score
Item no.: 611695
für Soli, Chor, Bassklarinette, Fagott, Horn in F, Jazz Trio, Percussion, 2 Violen, Violoncello, Kontrabass
Chamber Opera; Musik unserer Zeit (2010 - 2013)
for: Orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 660822
for four voices (ATTB) and string orchestra
for: 4 Singstimmen (ATTB) und Streichorchester
Study score
Item no.: 618172
Chamber Opera
Vokalpartitur
Item no.: 731832
for SATB choir, organ and obligato violin
for: gemischter Chor (SATB), Orgel und Violine
Choir score
Item no.: 1545454
for unaccompanied voices (TTBar)
for: Männerstimmen (TTBar)
Choir score
Item no.: 186045
Chamber Opera
Study score
Item no.: 731835
for mixed choir
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 729119
for mixed choir
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 292539
"In particular the cottage itself"
text from "The Last Days of Immanuel Kant" by Thomas de Quincey
Choral Music of Our Time
for: Mixed choir (SATBarB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 194231
for mixed choir a capella
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 610956
for solo piano, male choir (TTBB, 18 voices) and orchestra
for: Klavier, Männerchor (TTBB, 18 Singstimmen) und Orchester
Study score
Item no.: 755153
"In particular the cottage itself"
for: Mixed choir (SATBarB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 748901
für Soli, Chor, Bassklarinette, Fagott, Horn in F, Jazz Trio, Percussion, 2 Violen, Violoncello, Kontrabass
Chamber Opera; Musik unserer Zeit (2010 - 2013)
for: Orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 660819
for: Sopran, Tenor, Bass und Laute
Ensemble score
Item no.: 460246
for male choir
for: Male choir
Choir score
Item no.: 743585
for four voices (ATTB) and string orchestra
for: 4 Singstimmen (ATTB) und Streichorchester
Study score
Item no.: 755252
text from "20,000 Leagues under the Sea" by Jules Verne
for: Voice (soprano), organ
Score
Item no.: 294513
for tenor and piano
for: Voice (tenor), piano
Item no.: 604416
Choral Music of Our Time
for: Sopran, Tenor, Bass und Laute
Ensemble score
Item no.: 750216
for male choir
for: Male choir
Choir score
Item no.: 784028
Oper in 2 Akten nach einer Novelle von Jules Verne
Piano reduction
Item no.: 157037
Purcell arr. Bryars for SATB choir or four solo voices
for: gemischter Chor (SATB) oder 4 Soli
Item no.: 1544470
for SATB choir, organ and obligato violin
for: gemischter Chor (SATB), Orgel und Violine
Choir score
Item no.: 784024
for mixed choir a capella
for: gemischter Chor a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 755222
for tenor and piano
for: Voice (tenor), piano
Music score
Item no.: 755225
for male choir
for: Male choir
Choir score
Item no.: 783417
for solo piano, male choir (TTBB, 18 voices) and orchestra
for: Klavier, Männerchor (TTBB, 18 Singstimmen) und Orchester
Study score
Item no.: 616965
for: Männerstimmen (ATTTBar)
Choir score
Item no.: 155826
for recorder sextet
for: 6 Blockflöten (AATTBB)
Score
Item no.: 750600
for electric guitar, 2 violas and cello
for: Elektro-Gitarre, 2 Violen und Violoncello
Score
Item no.: 793885
for saxophone quartet
for: 4 saxophones (SATBar)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 725306
arranged for double bass choir
for: Kontrabass Ensemble (minimum 8 Spieler)
Einzelstimme Kontrabass 2
Item no.: 784789
arranged for double bass choir
for: Kontrabass Ensemble (minimum 8 Spieler)
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 1544621
arranged for double bass choir
for: Kontrabass Ensemble (minimum 8 Spielern)
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 1544624