Died, December 8, 2020. HAROLD Budd, who has died aged 84 from complications caused by Covid-19, was an influential composer and pianist whose work left its mark with a slow-burning intensity. This was as evident on Brian Eno-produced albums such as The Plateaux of Mirror (1980) as it was on later records with Robin Guthrie, co-founder of the highly acclaimed Scottish band, Cocteau Twins. These included the soundtrack to Gregg Araki’s film, White Bird in a Blizzard (2014), and Another Flower, which was released the week of Budd’s passing. Inbetween came a substantial body of work that felt as elongated as some of the notes played on Budd’s spacious and intricately constructed compositions. Whether working with such fellow travellers or carving out his musical atmospheres solo, Budd’s palette remained constant.
Harold Budd - Master Of Ambient Music Dies Published 11/12/20
Harold Budd at Bill Nelson’s 70th Birthday concert, Leeds 2018.Photo: Martin Bostock Photography
Tributes have been paid by the music community around the world to American composer and pianist Harold Budd, often cited as one of the founding fathers of ambient, who died from complications of Covid-19 following an earlier stroke in November.
Graduating from the University of Southern California, in 1966, he wrote a number of minimalist pieces before taking a teaching position at the California Institute of Arts in 1970 and released his first studio album,
The Oak Of The Golden Dreams / Coeur D’Orr, that same year.