Matthew A. Bardin
Composition portfolio
To Whom it may Concern,
Below please find my portfolio submission materials. The Soundcloud (www.soundcould.com/matt-bardin) links will play in this window, and the orange link will open a link to the score on my Issuu page (www.issuu.com/mattbardin). Due to the busy schedule of the admission committee, I have included recommended excerpts for the majority of the compositions.
If desired, my biographical statement, CV, complete list of works, and headshot can all be found here
1) …the paper (Narrator with Chamber Ensemble, 2018)
This composition is a setting of selections of text from The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. In composing this work I approached the idea of writing for the unfamiliar (to me at that time) ensemble by assigning different emotions and characters in the text to a specific motive and instrumentation in a fashion similar to Wagner’s operas. The narrator was amplified for this performance in order to give her have her sound like she was in a slightly different space than the instruments. I hoped to emphasis some of the character’s insanity through this.
Recommended Excerpts: Opening to 5:30 (page 35 of score). The score can be found here
(I am in the process of reworking this piece for a small ensemble (clarinets, cello, piano, percussion, and electronics for a premiere at the end of April 2019.)
2) Just…Breathe (Wind Ensemble, 2018)
This work is my most recently completed and performed composition (as of 12/20/2018) Written for a Wind Ensemble or Symphonic Band, I wanted to explore the act of breathing in several ways through in the composition. Primarily I tried to achieve this through the form. There are two different sections that alternate as if the ensemble itself were breathing. However, I worked to blur the distinction between the sections to create a more natural, organic feeling to the development; these transitions serve to add more energy into the music, as is the person(s) breathing were nearing their maximum lung capacity. If the listener were not told of and listening for the varying sections, they might have difficulty pinpointing some of the changes. As a whole, during the duration of the piece, the ensemble metaphorically breathes in, out, in, out, and then in as much as their lungs can hold. Also present, although not as relevant to my composing process for this piece are the use of breath sounds periodically in several voices, the general localization of ascending and descending motives to help distinguish formal sections, and an occasional feeling of tension/conflict. My reason for including the lattermost aspect was the idea of a person attempting to clear their mind and focus solely on their breathing, but being unable to completely hone their focus.
Recommended excerpts: Opening- 2:15 (page 5 of score) and ca. 7:00-End (page 19 of score) The score can be found here
3) I Heard a Fly Buzz (Soprano and Piano, 2017)
This song is a setting of text by Emily Dickinson. In the poem, the author is experiencing their death; surrounded by loved ones, but unable to move or communicate with them in any way. Part way through the poem, I move away from the vocalist for a piano interlude representing the rain mentioned in the text, before returning for the final lines where the music metaphorically fades to black. Also present, in order to help punctuate phrases, are buzzing sounds made by the vocalist, as if there was a fly in performance hall.
Recommended Listening: 0:35- ca 3:35 (pages 1-7 of the score) The score can be found here
4) A Place (Mezzo-Soprano and Piano, 2018)
While I agree with the admission committee’s preference for live performance recordings, I still wanted to include this work alongside the song above. The premiere of A Place is scheduled for early March, 2019. and I will have a recording of the piece then.
This song features text by Rabindranath Tagore; the poem talks of an ideal society and expresses a desire for the author’s own community to progress towards the desired utopia. Musically I utilized approximations of Hindustani That scales and arranged them a little more to my aesthetic preferences. Melodically I included short notes that act as inflections with their paired notes and 2:3 rhythms to highlight the implied instability of the current society.
The score can be found here