From his residence in the Basque region of southwestern France, Bryce Dessner is absorbing his recent successes. His indie band, The National, has made a notable impression over the past year, releasing two highly-praised albums and touring globally. Besides, Dessner, a musician and composer, arranged the orchestral parts of Taylor Swift’s album, The Tortured Poets Department which has already hit one billion streams. Furthermore, he performed on synthesiser and piano on the album’s final track, The Manuscript. His latest venture will see him transition from Swift’s pop hits to classical symphony as he has been announced as the new artist-in-residence at the National Concert Hall this week.
Dessner expresses visible excitement about everything, but he shows special interest in his forthcoming visit to Dublin. Here, among his various projects, he will debut his orchestral piece named Mari, dedicated to the Basque forest goddess, his Violin Concerto, and his Concerto for Two Pianos, which will feature performances by French siblings, Katia and Marielle Labèque.
For Dessner, the charm of the NCH starts with the historic venue itself. The 19th-century Earlsfort Terrace building, originally constructed for the International Exhibition of Arts and Manufactures of 1865, was later re-purposed into the inaugural location for University College Dublin, before metamorphosing into the NCH in 1981.
He describes the hall as a wonderful, magnificent historic building situated in the globally recognised music city of Dublin. He has previously had the pleasure of performing with the National Symphony Orchestra, who are based there, which has enriched his experiences. He highlights his excitement at having the opportunity to forge relations across their season, partake in various activities and describes the experience as special. With many friends in Ireland, it is a place where he feels both comfortable and inspired.
Notably, the National Concert Hall, a historical home for classical music in Ireland, has evolved over the recent years to serve as a platform for both contemporary and experimental music. It is the annual venue for the Haunted Dancehall festival, hosting groundbreaking artists such as Kelly Moran and Oneohtrix Point Never, and will soon provide Nils Frahm, a contemporary electronica composer, with a residency. When informed that the Seattle drone group Sunn O))) had recently been a headline act, Dessner expresses excitement.
Dessner leads a remarkable dual life. His most prominent role is as the guitarist for The National, an intricate and emotionally-charged indie band that has garnered three Grammy nominations and has appeared as the headline act at numerous global festivals. Simultaneously, he’s recognised as a Yale graduate with classical music training. He has created compositions for entities such as the Kronos Quartet, the Orchestra of St Luke’s at Carnegie Hall, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Moreover, he’s been involved in providing the score for films by renowned directors Rebecca Miller and Alejandro Iñárritu, including contributing to the music for Iñárritu’s Oscar-winning creation, The Revenant.
Expressing his thoughts on music, Dessner suggests looking at Wagner’s Das Rheingold under a different lens, for instance, by expanding and intensifying it a hundredfold, would produce a sound akin to Sun O))). It’s his belief that connections exist between music varieties more than we assume, and that it’s often institutions or critics who construct artificial boundaries around genres. However, Dessner contends, from a musician’s perspective, that it all simply falls under the umbrella of ‘music’.
In terms of upcoming Irish projects, Dessner will headline a performance with The National at the All Together Now festival in August. He is also set to commence his artistic residency at the NCH in November. It begins with a performance of Mari, and in 2025, he will unveil a newly commissioned Cello Symphony with cellist Anastasia Kobekina and the National Symphony Orchestra, marking its world premiere.
He detailed a number of large-scale recent works he’s been involved with, such as a violin concerto he penned for Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto, which he feels has an almost Irish aspect to it. He also mentioned a double piano concerto created with Katia and Marielle Labèque, who he considers akin to family. This piece, he states, is probably his most frequently performed work.
Dessner, a Cincinnati, Ohio native, currently resides near San Sebastian, on the French side of the Bay of Biscay, with his French singer wife Mina Tindle and their son Octave. His professional commitments kept him from attending Taylor Swift’s inaugural concert for her European Eras tour in Paris, yet he passionately talks about cooperation with Swift and his twin brother Aaron, both part of The National, on a music project titled The Tortured Poets Department. Taylor Swift contributed remarkably to The Nationals’s 2023 track ‘The Alcott.’
Swift’s work ethic and certainty are remarkable and she is her own benchmark, as per Dessner. He finds it extraordinary how Swift creates and shares her art maintaining direct contact with her fans. The association between Swift and The National which begun in 2020, has pleasantly surprised everyone in the music industry. This partnership commenced when Aaron and his band assisted Swift in her reflective indie albums, Folklore and its sequel Evermore, providing different levels of contribution.
According to a review in the Atlantic last year, the collaboration could easily have been seen as a desperate attempt to gain credibility and shift Swift’s image, from a pop star to a less mainstream, coffeehouse performer. However, the sophisticated, gloomy compositions, combined with fresh lyricism, revitalised her style.
Dessner deeply understands Swift’s perspective, especially regarding her decision to release a double-edition, 31-track version of The Tortured Poets Department. This received mixed reactions online. The National faced a similar situation the previous year when they released two separate albums, First Two Pages of Frankenstein and Laugh Track, within a six-month interval, ignoring concerns of overwhelming even their most ardent fans.
Dessner recalls the situation, stating that people may advise against releasing two albums within a year, as with The National’s case. However, he argues that to them, and Swift, the albums felt like one collective work, reinforcing the decision to publish it. “They’re great”, shared Dessner.
In more than one instance, renowned personalities have crossed paths with The National. Band member Aaron Dessner has facilitated the production of two records by Ed Sheeran, while Matt Berninger, the group’s lead vocalist, had the opportunity to perform alongside Bon Iver, Phoebe Bridgers, and Chvrches. However, Bryce stood apart last year when he teamed up with obscure New Jersey lyricist, Bruce Springsteen, to create the sound track ‘Addicted to Romance’ for the movie ‘She Came to Me’ by Rebecca Miller, who is a close associate of Katia Labèque being the wife of Daniel Day-Lewis.
Dessner spoke highly of Springsteen saying, “Bruce is absolutely outstanding- a true idol for us and an incredibly giving individual. I can’t help but sing his praises. It was a delightful experience to have collaborated with him.”
Dessner developed an appreciation for Springsteen’s music during his younger years growing up in the suburbs of Cincinnati. He was in awe of the ordinary yet extraordinary man who bears the inspiring persona of a blue-collar icon. Recalling their first encounter, he said, “Bruce attended one of The National’s shows when we were not very prominent. One evening spent with him; hearing his stories made us realise how grounded he was. You can’t help but be captivated by his charisma and humility.”
According to Dessner, Bruce is an embodiment of how fame can be handled modestly and utilised for laudable causes. “Bruce has indeed set the bar so high that anyone who isn’t polite… it’s like, ‘Bruce is, so why can’t you be?’ Throughout the years, there have been a few such cases; it’s like, ‘get real’. Bruce is indeed an inspiration for all.”
Additionally, Dessner is known for hosting the occasional Sounds from a Safe Harbour festival in Cork, with the assistance of his friend and music curator, Mary Hickson. It was at the Everyman Theatre in Cork, back in 2017 when he and Aaron shared a stage with actor Cillian Murphy to give a spoken-word performance.
Mary ranks high amongst my closest confidantes and Cillian along with playwright Enda Walsh, have also become dear friends. Thanks to our shared venture of working on ‘Sounds from a Safe Harbour’ over the years, Cork feels akin to a second dwelling for me. If I were asked to name my preferred European city, Cork would be at the top of the list – the friendships I’ve forged and the fantastic experiences I’ve amassed there are unparalleled. Currently, our energies are geared towards organising the next edition of ‘Sounds from a Safe Harbour’ scheduled for 2025.
My glee was unmitigated when Murphy clinched the best-actor Oscar for Oppenheimer – I promptly sent a congratulatory message post the awards. Cillian is an extraordinarily gifted individual, perhaps like the Bruce Springsteen in the acting fraternarium: a person of humility and kindness. We exchanged messages and I found his demeanor preservingly unchanged, perhaps an inherently Irish trait.
According to Dessner, Murphy’s facility to stay rooted amid the Hollywood frenzy is extraordinary. “He’s a colossal talent, parading enough modesty and a desire to spend quality time with his kin. His stage performances I’ve had the chance to witness over the years, especially his collaborations with Enda Walsh…such acts are incredibly powerful and proficient in their immediate impact. One is essentially watching a revered artist of our age at work, and all devoid of the assistance of any cinematographic techniques or edits… Despite his large-scale successes, which include the hugely popular Peaky Blinders and particularly Oppenheimer, which has been one of the most momentous films of the past two decades, he managed to stay deserving and appreciative of the recognition.”
The National has the rare status of being a band embodying the ‘lightning in a bottle’ phenomenon, a rarity seen in a generation. They’ve succeeded in succeeding REM and Radiohead by capturing the mainstream audience while upholding their stature as independent artists. Post a few hard years during the pandemic, which saw Berninger grappling with depression, the band has made a resounding comeback, releasing two LPs last year and then staging an enthralling performance at the 3Arena in Dublin in the September just gone by.
Dessner articulates, “Every performance in Ireland is truly unique and extraordinary,” He may appear to be repetitive in his statements, but he insists on their authenticity. He believes it’s the crowd that makes the difference; how they resonate, how they lend their voices. Over time, the band has grown confident and at ease with themselves, after continuously making efforts to evade certain standards or aiming not to echo in a specific way. They’ve had an ample share of internal discussions regarding the course to be taken. Dessner now feels that they are settling down, embracing and accepting their distinct identities, and genuinely taking pleasure in their performances.