David Bedford
The Odyssey

In life, it has happened to everyone to do the right thing at the wrong time. It has often happened to musicians, and one of the most striking examples is that of David Bedford, an avant-garde classical composer, a pupil of Luigi Nono, as well as an orchestral composer who, at the end of the '60s, became part of the rock music scene more by a series of coincidences than by his own precise will.

The input was given to him by Kevin Ayers, who invited him to work with him on the arrangements for his first solo album, and David, curious, accepted. The partnership between the two worked so well that Kevin asked him to join his new band as a keyboard player. David played with the Whole World for two years, until the group disbanded. These were two very intense years during which he began to be esteemed in the English avant-garde rock scene, started collaborating with other musicians, but above all forged a strong friendship with the band's bassist, a shy and ambitious teenager named Mike Oldfield.

Oldfield had a dream, to release a solo album, and for this he had been composing music for years and transferring it to tapes. David advised him, encouraged him, and when finally, an emerging record label, Virgin, agreed to release Mike's work, he helped him create the orchestral arrangements. "Tubular Bells" surprisingly was very successful and even, when chosen as the soundtrack for the film "The Exorcist," became a global hit.

Oldfield, within a few months, became a rock star known worldwide and consequently, David's notoriety also increased. Collaborations with other musicians increased. During this period, he worked, among others, with Roy Harper, Edgar Broughton, and again with his friend Mike first as an arranger for his second album "Hergest Ridge" and then as an orchestra conductor for the symphonic version of "Tubular Bells."

By now, David had the necessary experience in the rock field to make the leap in quality. Oldfield himself was convinced of this, first convincing him to compose a solo album and then, leveraging his influence, procuring him a contract with Virgin.

David's first two albums with Virgin, "Star's End" and "The Rime of Ancient Mariner" were released in 1974 and 1975, respectively. The first is an avant-garde symphonic work complete with orchestra and choirs. In the second, David adds drums and keyboards to the classical instrumentation in an attempt to make it less difficult to listen to, but things don't change much. Both turn out to be too experimental and difficult for the average listener and are appreciated only by critics and a small niche audience.

With the third, "The Odyssey," David finally hits the mark: out go the orchestral instruments (except for the oboe) and in come keyboards (played by Bedford himself) and guitars (played by Andy Summers and the ever-present Oldfield). The sounds are predominantly rock, an atmospheric, airy, and melodic prog-rock with some soft experimental touches here and there.

The tracks are structured in a very simple and minimal way: one or more keyboard chords repeat with different tones throughout the piece while, in the background, the synths also replicate very short note sequences. It's a rigid structure that supports the choirs, guitar solos, noises, and synthetic effects, variations on the theme that do not "disturb" the harmony and formal elegance of the compositions.

The best tracks are the more articulated ones: "The Syrens", the longest piece, begins with a celestial theme sung by the Queen's College female choir that floats on an essential electronic base, while Oldfield's guitar crafts precious and light chords like filigree. The final track, "The Battle in the Hall," starts instead with a heavy and martial rhythm, made even more threatening by the heavy and dissonant synth effects. Then, suddenly, the atmosphere calms: the theme of "The Phaeacian Games" reappears, and in the end, a subdued choir briefly fades into silence. The Odyssey is over, and peace finally returns.

The album ultimately results in a rather pleasant mix between Mike Oldfield's early works and the simpler pieces of musicians like Terry Riley and Philip Glass. Strangely, although the record has all the ingredients to appeal to a wide audience, it went completely unnoticed. The reason is clear: it's 1976, at the beginning of the punk revolution, the audience's tastes have changed, and progressive music is now labeled as "old" music par excellence. "The Odyssey" unfortunately came out too late.

David doesn't make a tragedy out of it. The rock chapter was pleasant and stimulating, but now it is over. During his long career as a classical musician, he will still occasionally collaborate with Mike Oldfield and other rock artists, but only as an arranger or orchestra conductor.

However, his contribution to rock music, "The Odyssey," is still considered today by prog fans a little gem of taste and elegance to be preserved with care.