RECORDING OF THE MONTH RECORDING OF THE MONTH BARGAIN OF THE MONTH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS A London Symphony Oboe Concerto £11 post free World-wide RACHMANINOV Elegy, Preludes, Piano concerto 3 £12 post free World-wide CHAUSSON, DEBUSSY RACHMANINOV TRios 2CDs £16 post free World-wide

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Gavin BRYARS (b. 1943) BIPED 1. Part I - 7:34 2. Part II - 12:57 3. Part III - 9:18 4. Part IV - 8:31 5. Part V - 5:16 6. Part VI - 2:20 Gavin Bryars, electric keyboard, double bass, director James Woodrow, electric guitar Sophie Harris, cello Takehisa Kosugi, violin, hand-held percussion Rec: No date given, Angel Studio, Islington, London. GB RECORDS BCGBCD02 [45.59]

This recording, the first release on Gavin Bryars' GB Records (in spite of its being numbered 02) is a work commissioned by the Merce Cunningham Dance Studio. While music written to accompany performances often seems lacking when heard in isolation, this disc stands on its own quite well. The work is in six parts, with no intervening pauses, and has a dense, foreboding sound. After an opening section where hope seems to exist, and an aerian cello spins a melancholy tale, the music weaves its way through clouds of angst and oppression. With its waves of keyboard sound flowing behind Robert Frippish-style guitar lines, the second section is powerfully despondent. The dark background of keyboards flows throughout the section and deep percussion tolls arhythmically. The third section brings in a wider variety of sounds, which float in and out: single guitar notes, the occasional Glassian keyboard riff; improvisational sounding music that builds slowly as the different parts combine. Then the tone changes in the fourth section, as the music becomes brighter, the violin takes the forefront, and the sound is more like a string quartet. The music again becomes sombre in the fifth section, with a loss of structure and a growing dissonance. This ends, in the final section, on a dark, speculative note, as it fades into nothingness. Alas, it is hard to do justice to any such work with a simple description. This disc is powerful and haunting, and the listener cannot but be disturbed. But this almost Beckettian sound is not to the taste of everyone, and I would recommend listening to some excerpts if possible before taking the plunge. Bryars shows a great deal of energy in this work, but this is not the kind of energy that everyone wants to listen to. Kirk McElhearn Advertising Rates Visitor stats MusicWeb International has over 40,000 Classical CD reviews on offer Discs received Having a problem Donating? Gerard Hoffnung Concerts & The Bricklayer Story MusicWeb can now offer you discs from the following catalogues: Prices include postage There will be NO VAT Rises [Acte Préalable £13.50] [Arcodiva £12.00] [Avie from £6.25] [British Music Society £12.00] [CDACCORD from £13.50 ] [ClassicO £12.50] [Hallé from £11] [Heritage £10] [Hortus £14.99 ] [Lyrita ONLY £11.75 ] [Nimbus Special prices] [Northern Flowers £13.50] [REDCLIFFE £11 ] [Sheva £11] [Tactus £11.50 ] [Talent from £12.00 ] [Toccata Classics £10.50 ] Musicweb Special Offers Monthly Best Buys   New Releases New Releases   MusicWeb sells the Polish catalogue CDAccord £10.50 post free W-W MusicWeb sells the Arcodiva catalogue £12.00 post free W-W £11.75 post-free world- wide     Google Ads - for information about privacy matters, click here.  Amazon Musicweb International is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

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