Sign up to The Irish Times Archive (1859 - 2008)My Account »

Gavin Bryars gets inspiration from the most unlikely of sources. He tells Arminta Wallaceabout the homeless man whose singing inspired his most famous work

GOOD WITH WORDS, is Gavin Bryars. Not for him the po-faced practice of labelling his musical compositions "opus one", "opus two" and "opus three"; a piece by Bryars is far more likely to be called Farewell to Philosophyor The North Shore, or even One Last Bar: Then Joe Can Sing.