''Irma'' is a 1969 experimental opera by artist Tom Phillips,

Fred Orton Fred Lionel Orton (born 1945, Coventry, Warwickshire England) is an English art historian. His initial training was at Coventry College of Art in painting as a Dip.A,D student. He extended his experience in the History and Development of Art ini ...

and Gavin Bryars. The score involved 93 random phrases taken from the 1892 novel ''

A Human Document ''A Humument: A treated Victorian novel'' is an altered book by British artist Tom Phillips, published in its first edition in 1970 and completed in 2016. It is a piece of art created over W H Mallock's 1892 novel ''A Human Document'' whose tit ...

'' by W.H. Mallock, which Phillips had reworked in a 'treated' version, ''

A Humument ''A Humument: A treated Victorian novel'' is an altered book by British artist Tom Phillips, published in its first edition in 1970 and completed in 2016. It is a piece of art created over W H Mallock's 1892 novel ''A Human Document'' whose tit ...

''. They were then divided up into sound suggestions, a libretto and staging directions. The score was completed in 1969. It was then published in the French avant garde poetry magazine O.U. The opera itself had its premiere at the Bordeaux Festival in 1970. It has been performed sporadically since then, including the University of Newcastle in 1972, York University in 1973 and in London in 1983. A published version of the score was issued in 2014 "providing a recipe book for a stage event; with all the ingredients of traditional opera, dance episodes, drinking chorus, mad scene, erotic enactment, and the many variations on love and death."

Concept and recording

Musician and producer

Brian Eno Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...

had known Phillips since 1964 as a student at the

Ipswich School of Art Ipswich School of Art (ISA) was an art school in Ipswich, Suffolk. It was founded as the Ipswich School of Science and Art which opened on 10 January 1859. It continued to have an independent existence until 1997, when it was absorbed by the Uni ...

, where Phillips was an art teacher. Phillips had contributed the cover painting of his landmark release '' Another Green World''. In 1975 Eno had launched Obscure Records, its raison d'etre being the promotion and release of new experimental music. Phillips work and his association with Eno made Obscure a natural home for the piece. Eno suggested that Gavin Bryars could flesh out the score for the recording. In common with much of the releases on Obscure, recording took place at

Basing Street Studios Basing Street Studios was a recording studio in a former 17th century chapel at 8–10 Basing Street, in Notting Hill, London, England. Originally established in 1969 as Island Studios by Chris Blackwell, the founder of Island Records, the studi ...

in London in February 1977. As usual Eno produced the record and Phil Ault engineered. The recording and release of the album proved to be fractious. Composer Gavin Bryars took charge of the musical direction of the piece, art writer

took Phillips piece and wrote the

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

. Bryars improvised extensively as Phillips's original score was primarily a piece of graphical notation. Phillips had said to Bryars "This is the way I always thought Irma would sound." Bryars remembers thinking "Shit, if you always knew how it was going to sound, why didn't you write it, then?" When the record was released in 1978 it was credited as "Irma An Opera by Tom Phillips" However Bryars was credited with the music and Orton the libretto. Phillips later blamed Eno for letting Bryars dominate the recording, speaking in 2008 he said "Irma was an absolute fucking disaster. It's the one thing I really hold against Brian...He let Gavin steal the piece. The record came out as a piece by Gavin Bryars, which is outrageous when its total derivation is from me." The album was the ninth release on Obscure Records and had the catalogue number ''Obscure OBS 9''.

Track listing and personnel

# Introduction # Overture And Aria : "I Tell You That's Irma Herself" # First Interlude # Aria: "Irma You Will Be Mine" # Second Interlude # Chorus: "Love Is Help Mate" # Postlude

Personnel

* Roy Babbington – bass * Rory Allam – clarinet *

Rodney Slatford Rodney Slatford OBE (born 18 July 1944) is an English contemporary double bass player and teacher. He was the principal bass player of the Midland Sinfonia, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, and English Chamber Orchestra, a founder of the Nas ...

– contrabass * Dave Smith – horns, vibraphone *

Michael Nyman Michael Laurence Nyman, Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 23 March 1944) is an English composer, pianist, libretto, librettist, musicologist, and filmmaker. He is known for numerous film soundtrack, scores (many written during his length ...

– piano, marimba, glockenspiel * John White – tuba, marimba * Jo Julian – vibraphone, marimba * Adam Skeaping – alto violin * Tim Kraemer – baritone violin * Stuart Deeks – descant violin *

Roddy Skeaping The City Waites is a British early music ensemble. Formed in the early 1970s, they specialise in English music of the 16th and 17th centuries from the street, tavern, theatre and countryside — the music of ordinary people. They endeavour to appea ...

– sopranino violin * Mark Caudie – tenor violin *

Gavin Wright Gavin Wright (born 1943) is an economic historian and the William Robertson Coe Professor of American economic history at Stanford University. He received his B.A from Swarthmore College and his Ph.D. with distinction from Yale University. He has ...

– treble violin *

Howard Skempton Howard While Skempton (born 31 October 1947) is an English composer, pianist, and accordionist. Since the late 1960s, when he helped to organise the Scratch Orchestra, he has been associated with the English school of experimental music. Skempt ...

, Lucy Skeaping – vocals * Angela Bryars, Tom Phillips – chorus * Gavin Bryars – conductor * Phil Ault – engineer * Brian Eno – producer

Later recording

In 1986, ''Irma'' was performed at the

Serpentine Gallery The Serpentine Galleries are two contemporary art galleries in Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, Central London. Recently rebranded to just Serpentine, the organisation is split across Serpentine South, previously known as the Serpentine Gallery, ...

in London by the improvisational group

AMM Amm or AMM may refer to: Entertainment Music *AMM (group), British free improvisation group Television *Amy's Mythic Mornings, an educational show on APTN Kids Video games * Automated MatchMaking, in the context of the Warcraft III Ladder system ...

. This was recorded and released on CD on Matchless Recordings in 1988, catalogue number MRCD16."Irma - Matchless Recordings"
on Otoroku website, accessed 3 May 2017. Personnel *

Eddie Prévost Edwin John Prévost (born 22 June 1942) is an English percussionist who founded the free improvisation group, AMM. Early years Of Huguenot heritage, Prévost's silk weaving ancestors moved to Spitalfields in the late 17th century. He was bor ...

– percussion *

Keith Rowe Keith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Keith (surname) * Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949) * Baron Keith, a line of Scottish barons ...

– guitar * John Tilbury – piano, radio *Ian Mitchell – clarinet * Lol Coxhill – saxophone, vocals *Elise Lorraine – vocals * Phil Minton – vocals *Tom Phillips – vocals

References

External links

AMG entry on 1988 recordingDiscogs entry on 1977 recordingDiscogs entry on 1988 recording
{{Authority control Compositions by Gavin Bryars Albums produced by Brian Eno 1978 albums Operas 1969 operas English-language operas Obscure Records albums