Sound
UbuWeb








Henry Brant (b. 1913-2008)





Henry Brant at KPFA Berkeley, 1971 (August 16, 1971)

Henry Brant, born in 1913 in Montreal, surveys his music with Charles Amirkhanian. Brant has enlarged upon musical practices of Gabrielli and Ives to create spatial music. This music calls for the physical separation of different groups of musicians within the performance space who simultaneously perform wildly diverse music in and around the audience. Brant has experimented with unusual instruments some of which have been built specifically for his compositions.

During this program you will hear: Hieroglyphics II (1960); Odyssey Why Not? (1966); Origins (1951); the first two movements of Brants transcription of Beethovens String Quartet, Opus 131, for Woodwind Quintet; and Hidden Roads, one section from the composition Crossroads.


Meteor Farm by Henry Brant (April 12, 1982)

Henry Brant’s Meteor Farm is a piece scored for two sopranos, three South Indian performers, two choruses, West African chorus, jazz band, gamelan, and two percussion ensembles.


Henry Brant Interview (February 9, 1984)

Charles Amirkhanian interviews avant-garde composer Henry Brant about his life and music. Brant is perhaps best known for his work with spacial music, that is music for spatially distinct groups of instruments, with many of his compositions calling for multiple ensembles performing in different parts of a concert hall. (Note: original recording starts in mid-speech)