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8/10/2019 Bryars: "1, 2, 1-2-3-4" Notes
1/3
Gavin ryars
1, 2, 123-4
Gavin Bryars: Double Bass.
Christopher Hobbs: Piano.
Cornel ius Cardew:Cello.
Derek Bailey: Guitar.
Mike Nicolls Drums.
Ce
lia
Gollin
and Brian Eno: Vocals
AndyMackay: Oboe.
Stuart Deeks: Violins.
Paul Nieman: Trombone.
Engineered by Phil Ault.
Produced by Brian Eno
8/10/2019 Bryars: "1, 2, 1-2-3-4" Notes
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1 2 1-2-3-4
The piece is for instrumentalists/vocalists,
each wearing headphones connected to a
portable cassettemachine. Each performer
hears only themusic in his headphones,
music which contains parts for his
instrumentor voice, and he plays, along with
the cassette, his own instrumental part. His
ability to reproduce this part depends on how
familiar he is with what he hears, and this
can range from careful practice over a-period
ofweeks with his cassette to an immediate
response from a firstor second hearing.The
present recording, to some extent, contains
elements of these two extremes: a few
players had played the piece on other
occasions at least one of which used the
same material as is used on this recording ,
8/10/2019 Bryars: "1, 2, 1-2-3-4" Notes
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wt)ileothers became acquainted with it for
the first t ~ i n t h recording studio.
Each performer plays the' part that
corresponds to his instrumentThus, if the
music
be jazz, a bassist
is
likely
to play more
than, say, a violinist. In the case of a bassist
hearing jazz (and, hence, usuallya bass).on
his headphones, he would attempt to play,
as best he can, the bass-line in the head
phones such
thatthere is
an intended
one-
to-one relationship between what he plays
and what he hears in the headphones. He
may try his part several times before hand,
or he may choose to busk ' 'on the night , like
the accompani
st
in
cabaret
who is
told, in the
middle of the act on stage, that there are no
parts for the next number butthat it is Happy
Streets and Paper Rainbows in D flat. 1 2
1-2-3-4 (and his entry must be prompt, even
to
the extent
of invent
i
ng
an eight-bar
i ntrod ucti on).
In this performance, all the players have
identical material on their cassettes, though
each was recorded individually and not
copied simultaneously, and
their
performance reflects a numberof variables
that occur: the starting point of the music on
the cassettes is not precise (butthe click of
the machines switching on, however, is);
the cassettes may not be all running at the
samespeed due to the uneven qual t of the
different machines, the stateoftheir batteries
and so on, and this, in turn, affects both the
duration and key of the piece; players vary
in their ability to' shadow material (i.e. to
simultaneously hear and reproduce);
players, in this recording, vary in their
familiarity with the material.The material
itself, however, is perfectly homogeneous
and the dislocations that occur do not
destroy this.
The piece
was
originally
written
for a series of concerts organised by John
White and is, amiably, dedicated to him.