furious artisans

Gheorghi Arnaoudov [Composer]

Gheorghi Arnaoudov was born in Sofia, to a well-known family with a strong musical tradition. While attending the Pantcho Vladigerov Academy, Arnaoudov also studied composition in Florence under Brian Ferneyhough, where he explored electronic and concrète music. Upon graduation and completion of his studies abroad, Arnaoudov began establishing a reputation as dedicated composer as well as a theorist. Specializing in modern and postmodern aesthetics, communication and semiotics, he also set himself to exploring ancient and Far Eastern musical forms.  T o date Arnaoudov has produced numerous symphonies, oratorios, concertos and has won several international prizes. He currently teaches in the "Theatre" and "Music" Departments of  New Bulgarian University.

Compared in the beginning to composers such as Scriabin, Messiaen or Pärt nowadays Arnaoudov is known as one of the most distinctive European composers, creating a music of stasis, a new kind of of intense minimalism "that tells no conventional stories but rather meditates on a idea. His instrumental works have distinguished him as a modernist innovator, one who looks at musical instruments as total items capable of maby sounds, overtones and resonances.

Many have commented on the spiritual side of Arnaoudov's music, and indeed mysticism and ritual are two elements present in much of his work. Also influential has been art, cinema and literature, with sources of inspiration including René Magritte, Tarkovsky, James Joyce or Jorge- Luis Borges.

Discography

Linda Wetherill: Sound & Repercussion