Augustin Viard (born 1984) is a French musician who plays the

ondes Martenot The ondes Martenot ( ; , "Martenot waves") or ondes musicales ("musical waves") is an early electronic musical instrument. It is played with a keyboard or by moving a ring along a wire, creating "wavering" sounds similar to a theremin. A player ...

, an electronic instrument developed in the 1920s. His work includes performances with international symphonic orchestras, chamber music ensembles and solo concerts. His contributions as a player and composer are regularly aired on

Radio France Radio France is the French national public radio broadcaster. Stations Radio France offers seven national networks: * France Inter — Radio France's " generalist" station, featuring entertaining and informative talk mixed with a wide variety o ...

programmes, and his recordings include collaborations with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds,

Rob Simonsen Rob Simonsen is an American composer based in Los Angeles. Early life Simonsen began playing the piano by ear at an early age. His grandmother was a voice teacher and music was around him in his family home. He later studied music at Southern Or ...

, Evgueni Galperine and the soundtrack of several award-nominated movies such as Loveless,

Earwig Earwigs make up the insect order Dermaptera. With about 2,000 species in 12 families, they are one of the smaller insect orders. Earwigs have characteristic cerci, a pair of forcep-like pincers on their abdomen, and membranous wings folde ...

Blonde Blond (male) or blonde (female), also referred to as fair hair, is a hair color characterized by low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin. The resultant visible hue depends on various factors, but always has some yellowish color. The color can ...

or Black Flies. Augustin Viard is listed as one of the rare contemporary ondists and owns a collection of authentic instruments made by

Maurice Martenot Maurice Louis Eugène Martenot (; October 14, 1898 – October 8, 1980) was a French cellist, a radio telegrapher during the first World War, and an inventor. Born in Paris, he is best known for his invention of the ondes Martenot, an instrument ...

Biography

Augustin Viard was born in

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

in 1984. He studied the ondes Martenot at the Conservatoire de Boulogne-Billancourt and at the

Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

from which he graduated with a master's degree in 2013.

Stage career

He launched his career as a soloist and chamber musician with Ensemble Vecteur Ondes and Ensemble Volta. He played the ondes Martenot part of ''Ecuatorial'' by

Edgard Varèse Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse (; also spelled Edgar; December 22, 1883 – November 6, 1965) was a French-born composer who spent the greater part of his career in the United States. Varèse's music emphasizes timbre and rhythm; he coined ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

with the

Ensemble Intercontemporain The Ensemble intercontemporain (EIC) is a French music ensemble, based in Paris, that is dedicated to contemporary music. Pierre Boulez founded the EIC in 1976 for this purpose, the first permanent organization of its type in the world. Organi ...

in 2012, under Susanna Mälkki. In 2015 he performed Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher by

Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. A member of Les Six, his best known work is probably ''Antigone'', composed between 1924 and 1927 to ...

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

(

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

) with Het Promenade Orkest under Jos Vermunt. He has also given performances of this piece in

Osnabrück Osnabrück (; wep, Ossenbrügge; archaic ''Osnaburg'') is a city in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population ...

(

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

) in 2017 with the Osnabrücker Symphonieorchester under Andreas Hotz, in

Mexico city Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

in 2018 with the Orquesta Filarmónica de la UNAM under Sylvain Gasançon, and in

Katowice Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popul ...

(

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

) in 2019 with the

Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra (NOSPR), is one of Poland's radio orchestra and premier musical institutions. It was founded in 1935 in Warsaw. In 1945 the orchestra was re-established in Katowice and since 2006 it has become a "Nati ...

conducted by Alexander Liebreich. The same year, he performed the piece again with Marion Cotillard in the lead role, with the Orchestre National de Lille, conducted by Alexander Bloch, at the

George Enescu Festival The George Enescu Festival (also known as George Enescu International Festival and Competition), held in honor of the celebrated Romanian composer George Enescu, is the biggest classical music festival and classical international competition hel ...

in Budapest (Romania).

Film and audio recordings

In 2014, he released his debut album ''Les nuages de Magellan'' in collaboration with Ensemble Volta. This included all the chamber music pieces for ondes Martenot composed by

Tristan Murail Tristan Murail (born 11 March 1947) is a French composer associated with the "spectral" technique of composition. Among his compositions is the large orchestral work ''Gondwana''. Early life and studies Murail was born in Le Havre, France. His fa ...

. This recording won the Grand Prix du Président de la République de l'

Académie Charles Cros The Académie Charles Cros (Charles Cros Academy) is an organization located in Chézy-sur-Marne, France, that acts as an intermediary between government cultural policy makers and professionals in music and the recording industry. The academy is ...

2014, an honour awarded by the

French president The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is ...

François Hollande François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. He previously was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (PS) from 1997 to 2008, Mayor of Tulle from ...

. Since 2016, French public radio station

France Culture France Culture is a French public radio channel and part of Radio France. Its programming encompasses a wide variety of features on historical, philosophical, sociopolitical, and scientific themes (including debates, discussions, and documentari ...

regularly commissions Viard to compose and perform original pieces for broadcast. In 2017 he played Ondes Martenot on the award-winning soundtrack of the international film Loveless. This film received the Prix du Jury du

Festival de Cannes The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

2017 and the César du meilleur film étranger (best foreign film) 2018. The composers Evgueni and Sacha Galperine won the Best Composer European Film Awards 2017. In 2018, he composed the original music for the audio cinema film Le brasier Shelley with

Warren Ellis Warren Girard Ellis (born 16 February 1968) is a British comic book writer, novelist, and screenwriter. He is best known as the co-creator of several original comics series, including ''Transmetropolitan'' (1997–2002), ''Global Frequency'' ( ...

, starring

Gaspard Ulliel Gaspard Thomas Ulliel (; 25 November 198419 January 2022) was a French actor. He was known for having portrayed the young Hannibal Lecter in ''Hannibal Rising'' (2007), fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent in the biopic '' Saint Laurent'' (2014 ...

, Warren Ellis and

Marianne Faithfull Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (born 29 December 1946) is an English singer and actress. She achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her hit single " As Tears Go By" and became one of the lead female artists during the British I ...

. This film was selected for the Festival du Nouveau Cinéma of Montréal competition 2018. In 2019, he performed all the Ondes Martenot parts on

Nick Cave Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian singer, songwriter, poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, composer and occasional actor. Known for his baritone voice and for fronting the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Ca ...

's album

Ghosteen ''Ghosteen'' is the seventeenth studio album by the Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. It was released on 4 October 2019 on Ghosteen Ltd and on 8 November 2019 on Bad Seed Ltd, both the band's own imprints. ''Gh ...

. The album achieved number 4 in the main UK charts and reached top 10 positions in 15 European countries. In 2020, Augustin Viard's ondes Martenot feature on Marianne Faithfull's

The Lady of Shallot "The Lady of Shalott" is a lyrical ballad by the 19th-century English poet Alfred Tennyson and one of his best-known works. Inspired by the 13th-century Italian short prose text '' Donna di Scalotta'', the poem tells the tragic story of Elain ...

, in another collaboration with Nick Cave (Piano) and Warren Ellis (synthesiser and loops). The 11 minute long track is part of Faithfull's album She Walks In Beauty, which reached the

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of art ...

when released a few months later, peaking at number 51. In 2021, Viard composed the original theme for Earwig, a full-length movie directed by Lucile Hadzihalilovic, which won the Special Jury Prize at the San Sebastian international film festival. Viard's score attracted rave international reviews,

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

noting "a gorgeous minimalistic score",

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

"Augustin Viard’s music (...) spreads brilliantly eerie glitch about the queasy action" and

the Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

calling the film "blessed by a gorgeous, otherworldly score by Augustin Viard, a specialist in the ondes Martenot." In 2022, he appears as an ondes Martenot performer on the soundtrack of the highly successful Netflix film

, a fiction based around the life of

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

. In 2023, Academy award winner Nicolas Becker asks Viard to perform ondes Martenot on the soundtrack of the American thriller Black Flies starring

Sean Penn Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He has won two Academy Awards, for his roles in the mystery drama ''Mystic River'' (2003) and the biopic ''Milk'' (2008). Penn began his acting career in televisi ...

. The movie is officially selected for the

2023 Cannes Film Festival The 76th annual Cannes Film Festival was a film festival that took place from 16 to 27 May 2023. Swedish filmmaker Ruben Östlund served as jury president. With the French film ''Anatomy of a Fall'' winning the Palme d'Or, the festival's top pr ...

Notable performances

Main recordings

;2014 CD release, Ensemble Volta « Les nuages de Magellan », Tristan Murail chamber music pieces for ondes Martenot,

Recommended Records Recommended Records (RēR) is a British independent record label and distribution network founded by Chris Cutler with Nick Hobbs in March 1978. RēR features largely "Rock in Opposition" and related music, but it also distributes selected mus ...

;2016 Broadcast, « Les mains d’Orlac » by Céline Ters and Ludovic Chavarot, France Culture, Radio France ;2017 Audio film, « Vent Clair » by Corentin Pichon and Céline Ters, France Culture, Radio France CD release, « Loveless » Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, Music by Evgueni and Sacha Galperine,

Varèse Sarabande Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, owned by Concord Music Group and distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums, as well as newer r ...

;2018 CD release, « Aïtone », French rock band album, Modulor Audio film, « Le brasier Shelley » by Céline Ters and Ludovic Chavarot, France Culture, Radio France Audio film, « Dans la tête d’

Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film director, screenwriter, Film producer, producer and playwright. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time, his films are known ...

» by Florence Colombani and Céline Ters, France Culture, Radio France Film, « Cuba, un aller et un retour » by Frédéric Compain,

Arte TV Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, plu ...

2019 CD release, "Rêveries" by Rob Simonsen,

Sony Masterworks Sony Music Masterworks (Sony Masterworks) is a record label, the result of a restructuring of Sony Music's classical music division. Before the acquisition of Bertelsmann's shares in the former Sony BMG, the label was known as Sony BMG Masterwor ...

. CD and Vinyl release, "Ghosteen" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Bad Seed Lt

2020 CD and Vinyl release, "She Walks In Beauty" by Marianne Faithfull (with Warren Ellis), BMG Rights Management, BMG. 2021 Movie soundtrack, Earwig, directed by Lucile Hadzihalilovic, Wild Bunch international Audio film, "La Japonaise", by Céline Ters and Patrick Boudet, France Culture, Radio Franc

2022 CD and Vinyl release, Blonde (soundtrack), Blonde, film soundtrack

Lakeshore Records Lakeshore Entertainment Group, LLC is an American independent film production, finance, and former international sales and distribution company founded in 1994 by Tom Rosenberg and Ted Tannebaum (1933–2002). Lakeshore Entertainment is headquart ...

and

Invada Records Geoffrey Paul Barrow (born 9 December 1971) is an English music producer, composer, and DJ. He is a member of the bands Portishead, Beak and supergroup Quakers, and has scored several films. Portishead—formed in 1991—was named after the s ...

2023 Movie soundtrack (performer), Black Flies, directed by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire, music by Nicolas Becker & Quentin Sirjac,

Open Road Films Open Road Films, LLC (formerly Global Road Entertainment from 2017 to 2018) is an American film production and distribution company based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded by Eric Hohl on March 26, 2011 as a joint venture between the t ...

Extra links

Augustin Viard - Ondes Martenot

Augustin Viard (ondes Martenot)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Viard, Augustin French musicians Ondists 1984 births Living people