Rylan Gleave: Requiem | BRAW Bursary
Shaper/Caper and BRAW very kindly provided me with some financial support to work on my Requiem-inspired project this Summer. The piece critically examines the idea of a “protagonist” by re- and de- contextualising ancient religious text, and by exploring forgiveness, Queer reverence in relationships, and the abuse of patriarchal power. Written for solo voice, guitar, drums, cello, organ, and electronics, the piece (still need to find a title!) questions with a neurodiverse lens what it means to find God in strange places, and what sexuality, sexual violence, and trans-/masculinity can mean much later when subverted as a survivor.
Exploring the sound world and staying in the headspace of this work, I used the time to continue work on the individual movements I had been writing. I had 1:1 workshops with the cellist, guitarist, and drummer, trying out the material that I had written. We found more idiomatic ways of playing this material — for instance, I had written a technically playable guitar riff with the fingers fairly close to the tuning pegs. The guitarist showed me that it could be played higher up on the lower strings, in the middle of the guitar, and this gave him more control over the vibrato and expression of the material. Working closely with the performer allowed me to understand the physicality of the instrument better, and has updated the ‘information pack’ in my head about how to write for guitar.
I was able to test some costume and performance ideas at National Theatre of Scotland, with some mentoring from Frankie Mulholland. We spoke at length about different fabrics, in terms of texture, weight, and flexibility, informing performance; I borrowed a variety of outfits from NTS’s costume department to try performing in. I found that characters from the piece started to speak to me — the Introit character was a priest, confessing his lover’s sins before an unyielding mob, desperately trying to stay straight-faced with fear burnt into his eyes. It was fascinating that character development was prompted by such a small thing like wearing a cassock. Similarly with the Pie Jesu — this character was a last-standing solider, and I donned chainmail and a breastplate, the weight of the metal heavily(!) changing how I thought about even breathing, or moving.
What I found so useful about the bursary was the focus on expanding the idea, rather than finishing it. It was wonderful to be able to take time to develop thoughts on particular aspects of my practise, and have the space to be able to test new things. Documenting this process was helpful for me moving forward too — I set up video/audio recording for most of the activities I undertook, and reflected on them post-session. I felt as though I was able to step out of my composition comfort zone, and try things I wouldn’t normally, which has drastically changed how I will think about creating within this project, and in the future.
Rylan Gleave is a classically trained composer and vocalist working now in experimental and divergent fields. Under moniker All Men Unto Me, he explores the instrumental qualities of his late-breaking trans-masc voice, and his love for avant garde, post-punk, Baroque opera, theatrical black metal, and drone.
Rylan’s project includes developing All Men Unto Me’s second album, by collaborating with performers, creating demo tracks, and fully notating the score. The album is structured around a Requiem, critically examining the idea of a “protagonist” by re- and de-contextualising ancient religious text, and by exploring Queer reverence in relationships, and the abuse of patriarchal power.