Bryce Dessner 'Solos' Out Now

Bryce Dessner has dropped Solos, a sequence of unaccompanied instrumental works written by the composer over the past years. The collection taps into both the musician’s genre and soundtrack tendencies, accentuated by acclaimed collaborations, cellist Anastasia Kobekina, violinist Pekka Kuusisto, pianist Katia Labèque, harpist Lavinia Meijer, violist Nadia Sirota, and percussionist Colin Currie. 

“Writing a solo piece for me is always a great challenge and joy, as you have all the personality and talent of the player plus the physicality and resonance of the solo instrument, a bit like a Shakespearean monologue. These solo pieces for violin, viola, cello, harp, percussion, guitar and piano represent many years of my compositional process,” revealed Dessner via press release. 

He continued, “When I began composing, I mainly wrote solo pieces for myself to play and I have always loved unaccompanied instrumental music – including the solo Bach lute and cello suites and the Renaissance lute fantasies of John Dowland, which I used to play myself on the classical guitar. These pieces of mine are often written like poems, where the musical language itself dictates the form and evolution of the piece, and were often opportunities for me to explore more deeply my relationship to the instruments they were composed for.”

Concluding, “They also represent in each case close collaborative relationships and friendships I have been very lucky to develop with the incredible musicians who play them. Katia, Pekka, Anastasia, Nadia, Lavinia and Colin are all exceptional artists who brought so much of their amazing talent to these recordings.”