AMG Review of Music for Falling from Trees

François Couture
All Music Guide

This short album (a little under 30 minutes) documents a suite composed for Falling from Trees, a choreography by Adrienne Hart. Broderick recorded the music in early January 2009, three weeks before the premiere. He deliberately chose simple means of recording, camping out in a barn with upright piano, violin, viola, and computer. The music is typical Broderick: post-classical compositions with a post-rock feel, quiet and languid, with a touch of sorrow and the occasional ray of sunshine. He has used multi-tracking with the piano and strings to play depth-perception tricks, and it works marvelously well, especially in "Pill Induced Slumber," where the accrued piano rumbles amount to a gnarling drone that drowns out the violin's frantic sixteenth notes. Less accessible than his song-based albums (like 4 Track Songs, released almost simultaneously), Music for Falling from Trees is concise, focused, and well executed. A beautiful experiment, and a piece of incidental music that stands strong on its own.