Chamber versions: Six Performers

The Flower of Friendship
The Sinking of the Titanic
It Never Rains Jesus’ Blood
Never Failed Me Yet
Epilogue from Wonderlawn

The influential British composer Gavin Bryars brings his Ensemble to Turner Sims in his 80th birthday year. He presents a programme built around two of his greatest works.

Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet began with a discarded recording of an unknown homeless man singing unaccompanied. Gavin discovered that this fragment – a few lines from a misremembered gospel song – was accurate in pitch. He set about building an exquisite, swelling arrangement of brass and strings around it, a process that he has likened to setting a jewel. First performed in 1972, it was then recorded for Brian Eno’s Obscure label. A later version featured Tom Waits’ vocals. More recently, Gavin directed a 12-hour overnight performance in London’s Tate Modern. Inspired by the story that the ship’s band continued to perform as it slid beneath the waves, The Sinking of the Titanic imagines how the sound would reverberate through the medium of water. ‘The music goes through a number of different states, reflecting an implied slow descent to the ocean bed’, says Gavin.

FREE TICKETS FOR 8-25 YEAR OLDS TO SELECTED CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERTS Through the generous support of the CAVATINA Chamber Music Trust, we are able to offer young people aged 8-25 the fantastic opportunity to experience selected concerts absolutely free.

Discover more CAVATINA events this season: 

MULLOVA ENSEMBLE | TRANSFIGURED NIGHT / THURSDAY 19 OCTOBER 8PM

CHIAROSCURO QUARTET WITH CÉDRIC TIBERGHIEN / TUESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 8PM