Brian Andrew Inglis — To Byzantium And Beyond
To Byzantium And Beyond brings together works for both solo recorders and electronics. Brian Andrew Inglis is a German-born composer of Scottish-Irish heritage- his work here moves between darting and swirl, onto the playful and warbling, though to the moody and slightly uneasy.
This CD release appears on Austrias Kairo Music, with the disc coming presented in the labels house style digipak, which features a stuck-on twenty-seven-page inlay booklet- featuring write-ups about Mr Inglis, the pieces players, and the pieces themselves in English & German texts.
Inglis has been active since the early 1990s, with his output ranging from unaccompanied solos to orchestral works, as well as drives into multimedia fare and pop music.
The album opens with the four-part piece "Études De Concert (2007–2021)"- which is for solo recorded played by English recordist Elizabeth Knatt. Moving from the droning dwell and flight flirt ‘n’ dart of “Air”. Onto the warbling & at points high pitched whistling of “Fuga”. Though American Indian-like earthy dart meets pitch-pulling bay of “Paraphrase on 'O virga mediatrix”. Finishing with pitched billowed & steach of “Tema con trasformazioni”.
Next we have “Tema Con Trasformazioni” (2010) this is for electronics. The four-and-a-half-minute track is around slow-mo horn-like stretching & bleak tone drifting. This track rather brought to mind an obnoxious brood ocean-type tone, and for some reason San Francisco bay, and the attempted 1962 Escape from Alcatraz- which of course got turned into the 1979 film with Clint Eastwood in.
Thirdly we have the four-track piece "Sailing To Byzantium( 1999)", which is based on a poem of the same name by Irish writer/statesman William Butler Yates( which is reprinted at the start of the inlay booklet). These tracks are played by Sheffield-born recordist Rachel Barnes. We move from piercing pitch climbs and flighty darting of “That Is No Country For Old Men”. Onto “An Aged Man Is But A Paltry Thing” which opens with a blend of rattling knock & seared blow before shifting into a blend of flight darts/ warbling descends. “O Sages Standing In God's Holy Fire” is all about warbling/ slight tone switching hazes ‘n’ dwells. Lastly, we have “Once Out Of Nature” which is all about compressed & rapid pipings, and complex bird song-like dips/ twists.
Finally, we have "Burmese Dreams( 2010)" which is for electronics and is the longest single track here at nearly eleven and a half minutes. It’s build around slow pulled out piping like pluses and bouncing reveb, again a decidedly moody track with a feeling of bleak lulling atmospherics.
The contrast between the solo recorder works, and the electronics-based work found on To Byzantium And Beyond is most certainly interesting. And I can see this release as a whole appealing to those who enjoy pitch-based work.