Joyce Music – Gheorghi Arnaoudov

Mythology is a term derived from μῦθος—and that means a word, speech, whereas mystique comes from μύστης—a derivative of μύω—“to close” (in the ancient practice of initiation—the eyes or the mouth), “to keep silent.” To define these two categories derived from sound and silence, is something great.
—Gheorghi Arnaoudov

Gheorghi Arnaoudov
(b. 1957)

Gheorghi Arnaoudov was born in Bulgaria to a family with a strong musical background. He attended the Pancho Vladigerov National Academy of Music in Sofia, and studied composition in Florence under Brian Ferneyhough, where he explored electronic and musique concrète. Upon graduation and completion of his studies abroad, Arnaoudov began establishing a reputation as a musical theorist. Specializing in “modern and postmodern aesthetics, communication and semiotics,” Arnaoudov also studied ancient and Far Eastern musical forms.

Often compared to composers such as Alexander Scriabin, Olivier Messiaen, Krzysztof Penderecki, and Arvo Pärt, Gheorghi Arnaoudov is known for creating “a music of stasis, a kind of intense minimalism that tells no conventional stories but rather meditates on an idea.” Mysticism and ritual are important features of his work, and Arnaoudov’s music frequently calls for musicians to use their instruments in non-traditional ways to produce overtones and resonances. He also draws inspiration from other artistic fields, particularly the art of René Magritte, the cinema of Andrei Tarkovsky, and the writing of James Joyce and Jorge Luis Borges.

Arnaoudov has won several international prizes, including the Grand Prix of the European Broadcasting Union, the Golden Harp Prize, and the Carl Maria von Weber International Prize of Music. In 2017 he was awarded Bulgaria’s “Golden Age Star” award “for his contribution to the development and the flowering of the Bulgarian culture and national identity.” In 2009, Gheorghi Arnaoudov was appointed associate professor in Composition and Harmony and at the New Bulgarian University.

Joyce-Related Works

FOOTNOTE (…und Isolde/ns Winkfall lassen…) (1991)
This beautiful piece combines a poem by James Joyce with themes from Wagner’s opera Tristan und Isolde.

Additional Information

Gheorghi Arnaoudov Website
The composer’s official homepage is the most complete source of Arnaoudov information on the Web.

Music Bulgara Arnaoudov Page
Musica Bulgara hosts a small page on Arnaoudov.

Wikipedia Arnaoudov Page
Wikipedia maintains a brief page on Arnaoudov in English.

Garden of Forking Paths Arnaoudov Page
The Modern Word’s Borges site profiles several compositions created by Arnaoudov inspired by the writing of Jorge Luis Borges.

Arnaoudov Interview
Public Republic, 18 July 2012. Jasmina Tacheva interviews Arnaoudov in an “Artist of the Week” feature.

Author: Allen B. Ruch
Last Modified: 26 June 2022
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