CO-COMMISSIONED BY ROCKPORT MUSIC
Composed 2023-4; 15 minutes
Gavin Bryars writes:
This quintet is the second substantial work for harpsichord that I have written for Mahan Esfahani within the last year, following on from the Harpsichord Concerto, premièred in March 2023. In each case, the subtitle gives an indication of something of the
music’s origins, intentions, and direction. The concerto’s subtitle, Busoni’s Chickering, points to allusions within the piece to some of Busoni’s theories and scale construction and to the little-known fact that the great composer/piano virtuoso also played the harpsichord: an American instrument made by Chickering and Sons of Boston. At the same time, this piece combines early 20th century music with that of the Baroque.
The subtitle to the quintet, dedicated to Mahan Esfahani, on the other hand, has more of the flavor of something from the Elizabethan period – and so the music has, for me, something of the character of virginal music from that time. It is In memoriam Carla Bley, the jazz composer, who I had known as a friend for more than 40 years, and who I always identified in interviews as my ‘favorite living composer.’ There are certain of her signature devices in the quintet that appear in several of her pieces, such as emphasizing and tying the last eighth note of a measure almost obsessively. We find this in the very lovely Lawns, written for her mid-1980s sextet, and even more so in End of Vienna, which she allowed me to arrange for chamber orchestra. There are direct quotations from it in the quintet. But, as with Elizabethan virginal music, the element of lament is restrained and done with a certain dignity and restraint.
Mahan and I met a few years ago, when he was performing in a concert that included one of my pieces. He subsequently performed and recorded After Handel’s Vesper, my only work at that time for solo harpsichord, and brought to it a freshness and a spirit of adventure that I enjoyed immensely. I love not only his virtuosity but also his inventiveness and erudition and, while I do write decorations within all these harpsichord works, I encourage him, and any other future performer, to be as willful and free in adding others. Like Ives, quoting Thoreau: “I cannot exaggerate enough…”
“The music of Gavin Bryars falls under no category. It is mongrel, full of sensuality and wit and is deeply moving. He allows you to witness new wonders in the sounds around you by approaching them from a completely new angle. With a third ear maybe . . . “
- Canadian poet and author Michael Ondaatje