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Harold Budd




His career as a composer began in 1962. In the following years he gained a notable reputation in the local avant-garde community. In 1966 he graduated from the University Of Southern California with a degree in musical composition.

As his career progressed, his compositions became increasingly minimal. Among his more experimental works were two drone pieces, "Coeur d'Orr" and "Oak of the Golden Dream". "Oak of the Golden Dream" was based on the Balinese " Slendro " scale.
After composing a long-form gong solo titled "Lirio", he felt he had reached the limits of his experiments in Minimalism and the avant-garde. He retired temporally from composition in 1970 and began a teaching career at the California Institute Of The Arts .

Two years later, while still retaining his teaching career, he resurfaced as a composer. Spanning from 1972-1975 he created four individual works under the collective title ''The Pavilion of Dreams''. The style of these works was an unusual blend of popular jazz and the avant-garde. In 1976 he resigned from the institute and began recording his new compositions, produced by British ambient pioneer Brian Eno . Two years later Harold Budd's debut album ''The Pavilion of Dreams'' was released.

Since then he has developed a unique and powerful style of ambient music. His two collaborations with Brian Eno, ''The Plateaux of Mirror'' and ''The Pearl'', established his trademark atmospheric piano style. In ''Lovely Thunder'' he introduced subtle electronic textures. His thematic 2000 release ''The Room'' saw a return to a more minimalist approach.

His album ''Avalon Sutra'' from 2004 was billed as "Harold Budd's Last Recorded Work" by the record label Samadhisound. The press release continues: "''Avalon Sutra'' brings to a conclusion thirty years of sustained musical activity. Asked for his reasons, Budd says only that he feels that he has said what he has to say. With characteristic humility, he concludes, “I don’t mind disappearing!”"

In spite of this, Budd's soundtrack to the film ''Mysterious Skin'' (a collaboration with Robin Guthrie ) and ''Music for Fragments From the Inside'' (with Eraldo Bernocchi ) were both released in 2005.


DISCOGRAPHY

  • 1978 ''The Pavilion of Dreams''

  • 1980 '' The Plateaux Of Mirror '' (with Brian Eno )

  • 1981 ''The Serpent (in Quicksilver)''(EP)

  • 1982 ''Abandoned Cities''

  • 1984 '' The Pearl '' (with Brian Eno)

  • 1986 ''Lovely Thunder''

  • 1986 '' The Moon And The Melodies '' (with Cocteau Twins )

  • 1987 ''Myths 3: La Nouvelle Serenite'' (with Gavin Bryars & Jon Hassell )

  • 1988 ''The White Arcades''

  • 1991 ''By the Dawns Early Light'' (with Bill Nelson)

  • 1992 ''Music for 3 Pianos'' (with Daniel Lentz & Ruben Garcia)

  • 1994 ''She is a Phantom''

  • 1994 ''Through the Hill'' (with Andy Partridge )

  • 1995 ''Agua'' (compilation)

  • 1995 ''Glyph'' (with Hector Zazou )

  • 1996 ''Walk Into My Voice: American Beat Poetry'' (with Daniel Lentz & Jessica Karraker)

  • 1996 ''Luxa''

  • 2000 ''The Room''

  • 2003 ''La Bella Vista''

  • 2003 ''Translucence/Drift Music'' (with John Foxx )

  • 2004 ''Avalon Sutra/As Long As I Can Hold My Breath''

  • 2005 ''Music For "Fragments From The Inside"'' (with Eraldo Bernocchi )

  • 2005 ''Mysterious Skin'' (original Soundtrack) (with Robin Guthrie )



SEE ALSO



EXTERNAL LINKS

  • http://www.newalbion.com/artists/buddh

  • http://www.samadhisound.com