Intuitive Music

Californian Brian Burman has worked in the fields of music and film for more than 15 years. He is one of these multi-talented and eclectic artists who can move brilliantly from the fields of impressionist orchestral music to electronic music. Burman worked professionally in Swiss Television as director, assistant director and music consultant. As editor specializing in dance and music films, he has edited films together with important choreographers such as Joachim Schlömer and Anna Huber, and with musicians like Christian and Wolfgang Muthspiel, The Modern Saxaphone Quartet, and the Vienna Art Orchestra. During the same time period, he has continued composing music for theatre, dance and film with among others, director Igor Bauersima, Choreographer Gisela Rocha, and filmmaker Jon Moritsugu.

Apart from this impressive CV, Burman is one of these enterprising artists who has been also involved into drawing cartoons, making animated films, trying to become a professional ventriloquist, studying painting, sculpture, philosophy and psychology at Humboldt State University, and playing piano in school jazz ensembles. He later attained a M.A. diploma in Film Production at San Francisco State University. It was during this period that he became more involved in composing music for films and consequently decided to move to Switzerland to create music for theatre directors and choreographers.

Brian Burman talked to Intuitive Music about his influences and recommendations.

- My first musical influence:

I grew up watching Warner Brothers cartoons, and loved all the classics hilariously rearranged by Carl W. Stalling, as well as the music he wrote, which taught us the latent power of humour in music, in a very collage-like, deconstructed way such as was first practiced much later by Zappa and Zorn. The first album that blew my mind wide open (at about 14 years of age) to possibilities in rock music beyond just good songs was Yes’ “Close to the Edge”… I realized you could paint large pictures with rock music, imaginary landscapes, and that real poetry is possible too.

- The album that changed my life:

I believe the music finds us when we’re ready for it, and different albums have found me at various times when I needed them. Zappa’s “200 Motels” made clear that rock and classical music are not mutually exclusive, the orchestral music in that film and album touched me deeply, and furthered my interest in Webern, Varèse, Stravinsky and other composers. Another composer who influenced me and gave me some personal instruction and advice was Kimara Sajn, a brilliant multi-instrumentalist and composer.

- My last discovery album:

I’m discovering new things all the time, but one that really moved and enchanted me in the past year was “Carnival Detournement”, by Hamster Theatre, a fascinating mix of modern classical chamber music, European folk, and rock. I also finally discovered Gentle Giant’s “Free Hand”, which is pretty much a perfect album.

- The song I always wanted to cover:

Depends on the day and the mood. I performed songs of Brecht, Weill and Eisler over several years in cabarets in San Francisco, because the songs are challenging, funny and politically still have a very high truth factor. I also covered almost the entire Genesis’ “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway“, in a theatrical version in Zürich with a different instrumentation, perhaps because I missed the original concert when I was 16 due to being grounded. If I covered a song today, it would be “Surf’s Up” by Brian Wilson (which actually has nothing to do with surfing in the water).

- The artist alive I’d like to work with:

“Fred Frith”.

- Recommended album of my career:

This year I did a score for Shakespeare’s play “The Winter’s Tale”, for Woodwind Quintet (available through my website), which worked quite well with the story on onstage, and seems to hold up as a composition on it’s own as well. There was practically no stage or props, so the music had to convey the time period, changes of locations, countries, etc.

- Recommended soundtrack:

For me, the most perfect soundtrack could possibly be “Once Upon a Time in America”… Ennio Morricone has many incredible scores, but this one is perhaps the most refined, since he worked on it over many years. Another absolutely unique score is Nino Rota’s for Fellini’s “Casanova”.

- The classical music in 2010:
Will no longer be limited by the separation of genres, elements of rock and electronic could (and should) expand the sonic world of the classical orchestra.

- My MysPace band/artist recommendation:
The Claudia Quintet and Gilliam.

- My YouTube music video recommendation:
Mahavishnu Orchestra, “Sister Andrea”

You can listen to Brian Burman’s music at his web site.