Gavin Bryars - The Sinking of The Titanic
(Click here)
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
CD Details
Artist: Gavin BryarsEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
Format: Import
CD Release Date: 2009-01-06
Music Label: Virgin
Music reviews of The Sinking of The Titanic
Music Review: Chalk up another Eno-produced classic.
Rating: 4 Stars
This disc is a reissue of the ORIGINAL recording of these two great "minimalist" classics. It was first released in 1975 on Brian Eno's fledgling label, "Obscure." Each piece on this disc is approximately 20 minutes in length, which generally works well for the nature of the music. I actually have not heard the more widely available (and much lengthier) versions of these pieces, because I had always been informed that the performances on this recording are superior.
"The Sinking of the Titanic" is intended to be a musical representation of that very event, and it succeeds brilliantly. Supposedly, a band on the Titanic continued to play an Episcopal hymn as the ship went down (whose theme makes up some of the musical content here), and Bryars was inspired by hearing the story. Bryars's score uses various sound effects that could have been associated with the event (waves, loud metallic sounds) and weaves them together loosely with the incessant strings and other orchestral instruments, never unifying the various elements, which seem to be unconscious of one another. The result is a perfect blend of ambience and tension that evokes in the listener the same sense of uneasy drifting that the terrified passengers must have felt. This work is powerful.
Although it is also quite moving, "Jesus's Blood Never Failed Me Yet" doesn't achieve the magnificence of the Titanic piece. I think the problem with "Jesus's Blood" is that instead of creating a dense atmosphere of sound around the hobo's voice, the arrangement of melodic strings builds progressively in an attempt to reach a climax that never really manifests itself. Whereas the Titanic piece settles freely into a somewhat ominous mood of constantly swirling, repetitious, but never tiresome sounds, "Jesus' Blood" is too much an attempt to wring grandiose emotion from a piece which doesn't really have the musical content to provide that kind of stamina. It works to some extent, but the music escalates too gradually, and although a larger orchestra may have better sustained this sort of subtle crescendo, as it exists here, the piece probably could have afforded to be a bit shorter. The loop of the hobo's voice really does tug at the heart strings, though, and I am interested in hearing the more recent version, as I understand that Tom Waits (whom I love) doubles the hobo's voice late in the recording.
Although this disc is not flawless, I would contend that it is worth the money both for its historical value and the Titanic piece alone. Four stars!
More The Sinking of The Titanic free music reviews:
1
1
Description of The Sinking of The Titanic
Bryars's The Sinking of the Titanic is one of the oddest and at the same time most mesmerising works to come out of this end of the century. It began in 1972 as an abstract art piece that kept on building and changing in the composer's mind. It's a ghostly tapestry of eerie echoes, distant sounds almost like whale songs, and interjected rifts representing the band that was playing even as the boat sank. This is a masterpiece that rewards repeated listening. EMI. 2004.Jazz CDs
Music Genres
Bestsellers in Jazz CDs
Curtis Brothers Quartet - Blood, Spirit, Land, Water, FreedomRelease date: 2009-10-01; Music CD
![Jazz Casual - 3-Pack Vol. 1 (Count Basie, Carmen McRae, John Coltrane) [VHS] Image](/images/Jazz-Casual-3-Pack-Vol-1-Count-Basie-Carmen-McRae-John-Coltrane-VHS-6305320578-X.jpg)
Jazz Casuals: Coltrane Basie & Mcrae - Jazz Casual - 3-Pack Vol. 1 (Count Basie, Carmen McRae, John Coltrane) [VHS]Rhino / Wea; Release date: 1999-05-04; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $43.27
![Jazz Legend: Part 2 1970-1987 [VHS] Image](/images/Jazz-Legend-Part-2-1970-1987-VHS-6303400787-X.jpg){kind=small}
Buddy Rich - Jazz Legend: Part 2 1970-1987 [VHS]Warner Brothers Pub.; Release date: 2000-10-20; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $10.75
Price in other shops:
![Living Legend of the Electric Guitar [VHS] Image](/images/Living-Legend-of-the-Electric-Guitar-VHS-6302658225-X.jpg){kind=small}
Les Paul - Living Legend of the Electric Guitar [VHS]Bmg Video Label; Release date: 1993-02-09; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $19.95
Price in other shops:
![Hurricane [VHS] Image](/images/Hurricane-VHS-6302251281-X.jpg){kind=small}
Herbie Hancock - Hurricane [VHS]View Video; Release date: 1992-04-07; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $2.50
Cocktails for Twoby band leader Spike Jones
Music CD
Best price: $19.95
![Dave Grusin and the NY/LA Dream Band [VHS] Image](/images/Dave-Grusin-and-the-NY-LA-Dream-Band-VHS-6301724496-X.jpg)
Dave Grusin - Dave Grusin and the NY/ LA Dream Band [VHS]Umgd; Release date: 1990-06-26; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $6.93
Price in other shops:
![Diane Schuur & Count Basie Orchestra [VHS] Image](/images/Diane-Schuur-Count-Basie-Orchestra-VHS-630164770X-X.jpg){kind=small}
Count Basie, Diane Schuur - Diane Schuur & Count Basie Orchestra [VHS]Grp Records; Release date: 1996-01-30; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $1.99
Price in other shops:
Damals in HamburgRelease date: 1999-08-11; Music CD
Best price: $23.54
Ben Webster - Ben WebsterRelease date: 2006-12-20; Music CD
Price in other shops:
Similar CDs
Gavin Bryars: Farewell to PhilosophyRelease date: 1997-04-15; Music CD
Best price: $12.99
Price in other shops:
Brian Eno - Discreet MusicVirgin; Release date: 2004-10-05; Published: 2004; Music CD
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops:
Jon Hassell - Dream Theory in MalayaHASSELL,JON; Release date: 1991-07-01; Music CD
Best price: $5.86
Price in other shops:
Tim Hecker - Ravedeath 1972Release date: 2011-02-15; Music CD
Best price: $10.66
Price in other shops:
Talking Heads: Chronology DeluxeRelease date: 2011-11-21; DVD
Best price: $17.50
Price in other shops:
Fripp & Eno - Evening StarRelease date: 2008-10-21; Music CD
Best price: $9.28
Price in other shops:
Harold Budd - Pavilion of DreamsBUDD,HAROLD; Release date: 1992-04-24; Music CD
Best price: $5.94
Price in other shops:
Michael Nyman - Decay MusicRelease date: 2006-06-06; Music CD
Best price: $9.01
Price in other shops:
Bryars: Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me YetRelease date: 1993-08-10; Music CD
Best price: $34.99
Bryars: The Sinking Of The Titanic / Barnett, Bryars Ensemble, et alRelease date: 1995-02-14; Music CD
Best price: $7.43
Price in other shops: