Peter Broderick

In just a couple of years, young Mr. Broderick (born in 1987) has made his mark with respected works on Type and Bella Union, as well as "mainstream" session jobs for M. Ward and Dolorean. London-based choreographer Adrienne Hart commissioned him to provide a strings and piano composition for her new dance production, concerning a psychiatric patient. The half-hour of music expands these minimalist requirements to their full potential. From a ticking clock achieved by tapping on a violin's body in "Patient Observation" to the dramatic mass of strings atop a manic, two-fingered piano gesture in "Awaken — Panic Restraint," the idea of movement is ably conveyed. "Electroconvulsive Shock" combines the soaring release of mind through sweeping violins with electrical undertones of distorted piano chords lurking beneath. Broderick finds great balance between moods from searching within confusion, melancholy lined with hope and eventually, as on "The Path to Recovery," certainty and determination.