julien boudart | nome polycephale @ penny black music (uk)

Over the last year I have been trying to extend my musical boundaries. I have had the time and opportunity to listen to more classical and experimental music, mostly thanks to Radio 3’s diverse programming. Julien Boudart’s latest release appealed to my new found interests. I am also increasingly aware of artists and musicians, past and present, who use myths of Ancient Greece as inspiration. These stories continue to resonate in our everyday lives as we recognise the global issues we have to deal with. Boudart is a French composer and musician who has been performing and composing on electronic instruments since the 1990s. His academic background is in mathematics and social science. He has developed a theoretical and philosophical aspect to his work and his approach to music and sound. This approach reflects both contemporary politics and the religious and magical aspects of musical performance. His work to date has involved collaborations with artists and musicians who are equally committed to pushing boundaries and taking inspiration from ancient myths and music. Listening to ‘Nome Polycephale’, his first solo album, it is no surprise that he has composed works for theatre, radio and multimedia performances. This piece is based on a report of an ancient lost tune, played on an aulos (a kind of Greek double flute), and mentioned by Pindar in his poems. Boudart has composed these pieces on a Serge modular synthesiser, using non linear speakers (similar to the Leslie speaker) and including field recordings. This is a sonic experience, and in keeping with the inspiration, the murder of a gorgon, (like Medusa), it is both disturbing and fascinating. It is visceral at times. Some pieces are more accessible than others, but accessibility isn’t really the point. It is a collection of compositions that should be the accompaniment to a ritual or ceremony. This is an intriguing reminder of the power of sound to shift and transform the world around it.