“It’s a collection of compositions that were all written for different contexts and spaces,” says composer Billy Bultheel, describing the “Frankenstein” form of his debut album Two Cycles to Edward Henderson in The Wire 481. “I had to go through a process of reclaiming and recontextualising them so they could be understood as a record.”

PAN · Billy Bultheel - The Snows Of Venice (Snow Cycle) (PAN 138S2)

Here Bultheel premieres one such composition, which was originally scored for a large-scale immersive performance and has since been repurposed for home listening as part of Two Cycles’ assembled narrative. ““The Snows Of Venice (Snow Cycle)” is a piece written for [flautists] Adam Sinclaire and Rebecca Lane for the 2021 performance of Unter, a series of compositions for two flutes to be played by the musicians submerged in knee high water,” Bultheel explains via email. “Initially performed in a swimming pool in Berlin, I expanded on the interplay between the two musicians to compose this extended album version.”

Two Cycles is released by PAN on 8 March. Read more about Bultheel’s practice and the processes through which he realised the album in The Wire 481. Access the interview online via the digital magazine library with a Wire subscription.