Gavin Bryars 'Chambre d'ecoute'(A listening room)

I have worked for over 20 years with Gavin Bryars, playing in his ensemble, which tours internationally playing festivals, and recording for radio and TV. Bryars has written a number of solo works for me, particularly for bass clarinet. This CD is the culmination of a long-term project that began with initial recordings in the Chateau d'Oiron in 1993 when construction work was almost completed in converting the Chateau into a museum of modern art. The project ended with the issue of this disc and performances in Oiron and nearby Poitiers in 2006. Some of the material was sketched out by Bryars, but almost all of this music is improvised, as it were in the 'Bryars style', as duos between clarinet/bass clarinet and double bass (played by the composer himself), with additional material from composer Dave Smith playing percussion and tenor horn, and local musicians providing drones. The music was recorded in many different rooms in the chateau, taking advantage of and using the unique qualities of the acoustics of these spaces, and then later played as an installation in the 'Chambre d'écoute' (originally one of the large ground floor kitchens) thereby giving an acoustic map of the chateau.