John Biddulph ‘Voyage of The Beagle’ plus support Ashia Vaughan, Sy Gigs, Unitarian Church, Shrewsbury, 28/02/2025.

Aisha Vaughan – vocals, Korg Wavequest synthesiser, electronics, Irish flute, Celtic harp

John Biddulph – Novation MIDI keyboard & controller, Moog Voyager synthesiser, electronics, bass clarinet, waterphone, percussion, church organ, voice

Tonight’s event was a collaboration between Sy; Gigs and the month long DarwIN Shrewsbury Festival, a celebration of Charles Darwin, the naturalist and geologist described by the Festival organisers as “Shrewsbury’s most famous son”.

It was appropriate that the event should take place at Shrewsbury Unitarian Church, Darwin’s own place of worship and one of the two churches utilised on a regular basis by Sy; Gigs, the other being the nearby St. Alkmund’s.

Nevertheless it’s the Unitarian that stages the majority of the Sy; Gigs events and which has effectively become the series’ ‘spiritual home’.

Sy; Gigs is the brainchild of series co-ordinator Chris Taylor, who began the project with the aim of bringing genuinely alternative music to Shrewsbury. The Sy: Gigs strand embraces various forms of experimental music with jazz just one of the elements in an eclectic range of events that also incorporates folk, electronica, contemporary classical and avant pop / rock. A number of events are double bills so a single evening of music may encompass several of these. It’s a series of events that is likely to appeal to listeners of such BBC Radio 3 programmes as Late Junction, Unclassified and Night Tracks. Taylor has done a terrific job in building a loyal following for his events and although not completely sold out tonight’s event was still very well attended.

As is typical of Sy; Gigs events tonight’s show featured two different acts, with vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Aisha Vaughan opening the show and performing material from her recently released album “The Gate”.

However the main focus of the evening was the world premiere of “Voyage of The Beagle”, a fifteen part suite written by multi-instrumentalist, composer, and sound designer John Biddulph inspired by
Darwin’s text “The Voyage of the Beagle”, a work first published in 1839.

AISHA VAUGHAN

Aisha Vaughan is based in the remote countryside of Mid Wales, in the general vicinity of Rhayader and the Elan Valley. Living in a converted barn her music is inspired by the natural world and by ancient folklore, but is filtered through the modern prism of ambient music and electronica. It’s a sound that is simultaneously timeless and modern.

Vaughan has released three full length albums, plus a number of EPs and singles, and has also written for film and TV. She openly acknowledges the now unfashionable influences of the ‘New Age’ music of the 1990s and the Irish-American Celtic harpist Patrick Ball.

Released in December 2024 “The Gate” appears on Leaving Records, the Los Angeles based record label founded by the LA based musician and producer Matthewdavid, who acred as mastering engineer on Vaughan’s album.

Tonight’s performance drew heavily on material from “The Gate” and commenced with an unbroken twenty five minute sequence that incorporated the individual compositions “No Past, No present, No Future”, “The Mist”, “Do You Love Me” and “Day Dreams”. All appear on the recent album with the exception of “The Mist”, which was sourced from her previous album “Endless Journey”.

The segue began with the sounds of ambient synthesiser sound-washes and ethereal, echoed wordless vocals, evoking images of swirling Celtic mists. Mixed via a re-verb pedal the atmospheric quality of the music was further enhanced by the church acoustics and it was tempting to think of Vaughan as a Welsh version of Enya, another of Vaughan’s acknowledged influences.

Despite its ambient and new age qualities Vaughan’s skilful looping and layering of her own vocals also imparted the music with a plainsong like quality. Meanwhile electronically generated sounds variously reminiscent of ocean waves and of birdsong acknowledged the influence of the natural world on Vaughan’s writing.

In a welcome and effective contrast to the electronic drones and textures Vaughan also introduced the sounds of traditional folk instruments, the recorder like Irish flute and the twenty two string Celtic harp, a small portable version of the instrument, combining the sound of the latter with her wordless vocals.

A second, shorter sequence featured “Campfire In A Midnight Sky” and “A Moment in Space Time”, two pieces from “The Gate” recording. This featured a similarly atmospheric mix of textured keyboards, wordless vocals and electronics with the subtle use of sequencers a notable component in the success of the music. It was so refreshingly different to their deployment in electronic dance music.

Ethereal, atmospheric and evocative, but never merely twee, Vaughan’s music worked very effectively in the environs of the Unitarian Church. Deftly blending the sound of the human voice with those of both electronic and traditional acoustic folk instruments this was indeed music that was likely to appeal to BBC Radio 3’s late night audience and it also represented a good fit for the Sy; Gigs aesthetic. It was certainly well received by the audience and was an effective curtain raiser for what was to follow.

My thanks to Aisha for speaking with me at length during the interval and clarifying the set list, as well as talking a little about her influences and methods. It is her intention that her music should represent something of a ‘dreamscape’, operating in the uncertain hinterland between myth, imagination, the natural world and everyday human reality. Mysterious and beguiling the soundworld that she created this evening inhabited this demi-monde beautifully.

JOHN BIDDULPH
‘VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE’

Based near Wolverhampton John Biddulph is a composer, electronic musician and multi-instrumentalist who has been exploring the possibilities of sound for nearly fifty years. He has experimented with synthesisers, tape loops and field recordings in addition to various other keyboards and electronica. He pursues a parallel career as a jazz saxophonist and various saxes and clarinets also find their way into his experimental work, which also features various items of percussion sourced from around the globe.

Biddulph releases his electronic and experimental music under the HandMadeSound banner and his recent output includes the albums “Structures” (2020), “Witch Tones” (2022), “Perambulations 1” (2022), “Places to Bathe” (2022) and the single reack “Absinthe Makes The Heart Grow Fondwe (2023). Variously released in a variety of formats all of these plus his latest work “Voyage of the Beagle” (2025) are available via Biddulph’s Bandcamp page.

Tonight’s event marked both the official launch of the Voyage of the Beagle” album (official release date 28th February 2025) and the world premiere of the suite in live performance. It was made even more special by the fact that this performance took place in Shrewsbury Unitarian Church, Darwin’s own place of worship.

Biddulph’s Bandcamp page says of the album;
“This music seeks to capture the spirit of Charles Darwin’s The Voyage of the Beagle, blending acoustic and electronic instruments to evoke the wonder and discovery of his journey. From serene landscapes to the vibrant pulse of nature, each track immerses listeners in the awe-inspiring exploration of Earth’s diverse ecosystems and life forms”.

He has also added;
“I wanted to create a soundtrack that would allow listeners to experience Darwin’s awe and curiosity as he traversed the globe. Each track is a musical interpretation of a chapter or extract of text in his journey—whether it’s the wildlife of South America, the vibrant Galápagos Islands, or the vast expanse of the open sea.”

Darwin’s 1839 publication “The Voyage of the Beagle”  chronicles his 1831–1836 journey aboard HMS Beagle under the command of Robert FitzRoy, a pivotal expedition that shaped Darwin’s theories on evolution and the diversity of life. Biddulph’s music attempts to capture the essence of this journey, drawing inspiration from the landscapes, cultures, and ecosystems that Darwin encountered.

Biddulph’s performance included his speaking of various lines from Darwin’s text, these serving as introductions to the individual music pieces comprising the fifteen part suite. From these extracts it was possible to discern that in addition to his undoubted scientific talents Darwin was also a highly accomplished and literate writer with a keen observational and descriptive eye and a poetic turn of phrase. These evocative passages represented excellent introductions to the musical works that followed, setting the scene superbly whilst also forming a vital part of the fabric of an overall performance subtitled as “A Sonic Exploration”.

The well enunciated Biddulph was surrounded by a sea of musical and electronic equipment including a Novation MIDI keyboard and controller plus a vintage Moog Voyager synthesiser, an instrument that seemed particularly appropriate for this project but which had been chosen for its musical and sonic capabilities rather than for its name alone. In another fascinating twist the instrument had actually been signed by Robert Moog himself!

In addition to the keyboards and electronics Biddulph’s set up also included a bass clarinet plus a table mounted ‘sound garden’, not to be confused with the grunge band from Seattle, consisting of a waterphone, plus various items of hand made percussion – “I like natural percussion sounds” declared Biddulph, of which much more later.

Chris Taylor briefly introduced the second half, before handing over to Laurence from Shrewsbury Museum who explained something of the background to Darwin’s voyage, explaining how the Shrewsbury born Darwin (1809-82) had been influenced by the German explorer and scientist Alexander von Humboldt (1769 – 1859), whose work first inspired Darwin to begin observing and collecting.

Biddulph himself promised us music variously depicting fossils, earthquakes, volcanoes and all kinds of wildlife. But the voyage began in Plymouth with the piece titled “The Journey Begins”, ushered in here by sea sounds such as the creaking of the ship’s rigging and the cry of seagulls. Biddulph’s spoken words declared “1831 – The Beagle sets sail – the journey begins”, his words complemented by the sounds of swelling synths, these imparting the music with a certain grandeur with organ like tones complemented by the continuing electronically generated sounds of the ocean.

Biddulph’s reading of further lines from Darwin’s text introduced us to “Atmospheric Dust and Infusoria”, a more ethereal passage featuring ambient synth sounds. Interestingly the recorded version of the “Voyage of the Beagle” suite omits the spoken passages and lets the music speak for itself. I had hoped that some of Darwin’s words that we heard tonight might be reproduced in the album packaging, but even after all this time there are still copyright issues so sadly this is not the case.

The otherworldly mood continued on “St. Elmo’s Light and Darwin’s Dream”, with ethereal synth sounds augmented by the shimmer of percussion, and even a relatively conventional piano sound on occasion.

“The Phosphorescence of the Sea” embraced a suitably luminous ambience, with shimmering synths and the subtle sounds of sampled voices imparting an almost choral quality at times.

We heard a different side of the ocean on “The Sea, Black and Boiling” as the waters roiled in the wake of a nearby volcanic eruption. Here the bubbling sounds of synths and sequencers were augmented by the deep, woody, grainy sounds of Biddulph’s bass clarinet. It was nice to hear the sounds of a ‘real’ instrument, a humanising touch and a welcome reminder of Biddulph’s affiliation to jazz. As a jazz listener this piece was a bit of a personal highlight for me.

Next we came to a sequence of pieces that might almost be described as “a suite within a suite”.

“Approaching” referenced Darwin’s approach to the Galapagos Islands with the electronic textures augmented by animalistic sounds suggestive of the diversity of the archipelago’s wildlife.

This wild life was then explored further in a series of four “Galapagos Variations”, including “Flora” with its gentle electronically generated kalimba like sounds and “Above” with its airy, ambient electronic textures, these variously flute like or almost choral like at times. There were moments during this second piece when I was reminded a slowly moving bank of fog.

The third variation “On” (the land) was inspired by the Galapagos’ famous giant tortoises and embraced deeper sonorities, sometimes reminiscent of cello or bowed double bass. These were combined with the sounds of sequencers and choral vocal samples to evoke something of the majesty and wonder of these fabulous creatures, plus that of the Galapagos archipelago as a whole.

The Final variation “Under” (the sea) took us to both the shallows and the depths with sonar like pulses allied to slow, eerie synthesised melody lines. The subsequent use of bubbling, percolating sequencers then transported me back to my youth as I was reminded of the once hugely successful German electronic music pioneers Tangerine Dream.

Darwin was charmed by the discovery of a crop of “Wild Potatoes” on the Galapagos and Biddulph’s similarly beguiling interpretation of this episode included soft, flute like sounds inspired by the indigenous music of the inhabitants of the nearby Andes.

Biddulph’s love of natural percussion sounds found total fulfilment during the performance of “Streams and Stones”. As this was a special occasion a small printed programme has been handed out to members of the audience together with an envelope containing three or four brightly coloured pebbles. We were encouraged to ‘play’ these in whatever style we liked (rolling them together in the hands, striking them together or striking another surface with them, rattling them together etc. etc) as Biddulph conjured further exotic noises from his ‘sound garden’.

The ‘sound garden’ continued to feature on “Shells, Bones and Feathers” which incorporated the other worldly sounds of the waterphone, played by Biddulph with a bow and augmented by sundry percussive sounds. The last time that I’d seen a waterphone played was by Polish vocalist and Sylwia Bialas at a performance just around the corner at The Hive, Shrewsbury in 2019, when she co-led a quartet with Israeli drummer Asaf Sirkis. Interestingly Biddulph didn’t actually fill his instrument with water on account of all the electrics on stage, but it still sounded suitably weird and wonderful.

The penultimate “Atolls and Lagoons” re-introduced a conventional acoustic piano sound as a series of repeated, interlocking motifs suggested the influence of Minimalism. These were augmented by electronically generated percussion sounds and even by organ like timbres, a foretaste of what was to come.

The closing “Homecoming” mirrored the opening “The Journey Begins” with its simple folk like melody and sea sounds. Darwin had been on the ship for five years when it eventually returned to Falmouth and the success of the expedition found expression through Biddulph’s playing of the two manual organ in the Unitarian Church – Darwin’s church – on this last piece. I’ve been to a few Sy; Gigs events at this venue by now, but this was the first time that I’d heard the organ in all its Gothic majesty, what a way to end this immersive musical journey in the wake of Darwin and The Beagle. Indeed Biddulph himself expressed his delight at having been given the opportunity to play this magnificent instrument, a nerve wracking but ultimately highly rewarding experience for him.

The Shrewsbury audience loved this musical celebration of their famous son and gave Biddulph a great reception. At the conclusion of the show Biddulph gifted Chris Taylor a copy of the Darwin book “The Voyage of The Beagle”, a nice touch.

For myself I purchased a copy of Biddulph’s “Voyage of the Beagle” CD, which I have enjoyed listening to again as I write. I also enjoyed a long and somewhat rambling conversation with John after the show (he once jammed with members of the original Soft Machine), so my thanks to him for that.

The recordings of both John Biddulph and Aisha Vaughan can be purchased from their respective Bandcamp pages.

https://johnbiddulph.bandcamp.com/

https://aishavaughan.bandcamp.com/music

 

blog comments powered by Disqus