There is a place, after the Irtysh river has flowed from the rugged peaks of the Mongolian Altai mountains and before it journeys on through the inhospitable floodplains of western
Siberia, that for decades housed a dark secret.

Just south of the valley of the Irtysh river, on the North-East Kazakhstan steppe, is the former site of The Polygon: a Soviet Union nuclear testing site. In 1949, the area was falsely claimed to be empty of residents, and 1.5 million people suffered from the resulting radiation effects for decades to come.

Released on 20 October, Galya Bisengalieva’s ambitious 7-track album depicts 7 regions of East Kazakhstan which were affected by the Soviet Union’s secretive nuclear testing site – The Polygon.

The Kazakh violinist and composer, a Royal College of Music and Royal Academy of Music alumnus, has made a name for herself globally with classical and contemporary performances and collaborations. Alongside her solo endeavours, she is currently the leader of the London Contemporary Orchestra.

Saryzhal, the second track, takes its name from the Saryzhal region. In just 2 minutes 43 seconds it transports you through a sound-world of electrical sparks, pulsing energy, sepulchral dissonances, and transcendental visions.

Two synthetic string tones, an upper and lower, fade in with a pulsing, portato effect, pure at first but fluctuating in clarity, becoming soiled with grittiness as more tones enter to distort the harmony into complete atonality.

The drama rises throughout, enhanced by vibrato and punctuated with pizzicato as dissonances and consonances compete. The whole texture is comprised of layers of sound, shifting like tectonic plates as different noises fade in and out of our hearing. Manufactured groan-tube noises evoke sci-fi film eeriness before the track dies away in an attenuation of texture and power.

Bisengalieva connotes a contaminated Irtysh river flowing towards and away from a toxic and sinister landscape, combining classical techniques with modern music technology to create a listening experience which is as ear-curdling as it is bewitching.

This track, indeed the Polygon album, will certainly not be for everyone; Saryghal or any of the other tracks are not the type of music you can dip in and out of, as each take you on a journey that is inscrutable without context. But for those that are drawn to music as an
experience, Saryghal, with its complex layers and ability to be ambiguous and specific simultaneously, is ideal for those with a darker, more experimental musical appetite.

See Bisengalieva live at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) on 28 November 2023.