EDGES is inspired by several events in my life over the period of 1995-97.  Two are near-death experiences, while the third is the sudden passing of one of my closest colleagues and best friends, Professor Robert Cooper.  

The first movement, "BACK FROM THE EDGE", is a chronicle of the battle that I waged with "flesh-eating strep", which nearly cost me my life in spring, 1995.  A fragment of a line from French playwright Jean Genet’s “Prisoner of Love” served as additional inspiration: 

 “perhaps all music, even the newest, is not so much something discovered as something that re-emerges from where it lay in memory, inaudible as a melody cut in a disc of flesh.  A composer lets me hear a song that has always been shut up silent within me.”

In a sense, my life has re-emerged from where it lay, for a while, silent, in memory.

Movement II, "POSTCARDS", is inspired by my mentor and friend, composer Donald Erb, who had his own near-death experience about a year later in the same Ithaca, New York hospital (a bizarre coincidence).  I know that he shared many of the mental aberrations I experienced during the recovery process, and POSTCARDS reflects the strange visions, the elusive but more and more frequent moments of clarity, and the eventual return to reality that such experiences create.  For me, in retrospect, these thoughts were like vivid postcards of other realities, sent to me by another part of my mind and filtered through the pain, the fear, and the medications that I had been given.  There was also a highly obsessive quality to my thoughts during the reco-very, which is reflected in the primary melodic material which simply refuses to disappear, though it changes colors, dynamics, and tempos at every turn.

Postcards -- real postcards, that is -- also played a role in my experiences.  While recovering, I received a post card (often of questionable taste) every two or three days from Don.  When it was his turn to be in recovery, it was my turn to send him postcards (equally questionable)...they seem now to me to be a lifeline to reality from people who are eager to welcome us back.

A quote was inspirational for this second movement as well, this time from Hermann Hesse’s Damien:

“In each individual the spirit is made flesh, in each one the whole of creation suffers, in each one a Savior is crucified.”

The final movement is a reflection on the amazing, wonderful, and sometimes difficult life of my colleague, Robert Cooper.  Robert had, without a doubt, the speediest metabolism of anyone I have ever known.  Lunch with Robert could be defined as both of us eating for the first five minutes and Robert watching me finish eating for the last 45.  Robert had two computers in his office and a phone; often all three were busy at once, while he carried on at least one additional conversation with whomever was present.  Yet Robert had great depth too.  He was a living example to students and colleagues, especially in facing life’s travails with courage and conviction.  He was also funny as hell.  I suppose that Robert’s pace was impossible to sustain, and in fact he died suddenly at age 45 on September 18, 1997. 

No quotations needed with this movement.  This one’s for you, man.


EDGES Movement II Postcards for wind ensemble

This is a recording of the March 12th 2016 premiere performance by the U.S. Coast Guard Band with bass clarinet soloist Andrew Grenci.  My sincere thanks to the band and to Andrew Grenci for a stellar performance.
The piece was was commissioned by:
Dr. Gordon R. Brock, University of North Florida Flagship Music Program
Dr. John C. Carmichael, University of South Florida
Dr. Patrick K. Carney, Limestone College
Andrew Grenci, Bass Clarinetist
Alan Mitchell, Andrews University
Nicholas Morrison, Utah State University
Dr. Danh T. Pham, Washington State University
Dr. Frederick Speck, University of Louisville
Dr. Reed Thomas, Middle Tennessee State University
Dr. David Vickerman, The College of New Jersey
Chris David Westover, Bethel College
Dr. Norman Wika, Northeastern State University


Though in its modern form the bass clarinet is a flexible and lyrical instrument, it was first popularized in many romantic orchestrations as a harbinger of melancholy.  This somber role came to influence many of the early uses of the bass clarinet, and Berlioz even describes Wagner’s writing for the instrument as always displaying a “character of solemn resignation.”  The twentieth century introduced a more liberal use of the instrument’s abilities.  But, the solemn character assigned by Wagner still influenced much of the literature which expanded to include sinister or comical roles for the instrument in programmatic works.
This traditional “dark” character is referenced and realized primarily in a capricious form in “Up to No Good”. The material is presented in three movements, and in each instance the bass clarinet soloist manages to “corrupt” the other players by influencing the musical material and goading the wind ensemble into a reaction.  The overall formal structure supports this approach by featuring the first movement as a kind of prelude (or dare) that is eventually accepted and addressed in the third movement.  This is referenced in the subtitle for the third movement by a phrase often used by my brother when issuing a personal challenge – “I hope you brought your woodscrews . . .”

US Coast Guard Band CBDNA

Up to No Good  I Fingers Crossed (Prelude and Double Dare)

Jon Carbin, cello & Sam Wells, trumpet
recorded July 6-7, Kansas City MO

Introduction and Kludge

Brad Baumgardner is a Nashville based composer, bass clarinetist, and experimental musician.  What else is there to say really?  If you like his music and want to work with him, write for him, or have him write for you, just send him a message.  Brad believes that music is supposed to be fun - if we're not having fun, then what the hell are we doing?  

For more info, or to contact me - please visit bradbaumgardner.com

Up to No Good I Fingers Crossed (Prelude and Double Dare)

Brad Baumgardner

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