This is my saxophone quartet 'Roach' and it was composed during the initial lockdown of Spring/Summer 2020. This version was recorded [via multi-tracking!!] by my friend and excellent saxophonist Sam Gee.

The art is my own.

ROACH [for saxophone quartet]

From the meanders of the mind, a memory escapes.
Blurry at first, it cristalizes, becoming clearer and clearer,
as the other thoughts dissolve slowly.
As the escape frees itself, it intensifies, becomes concrete.
And, radiating calmness, the memory rises up again.

The gentle spring morning,
the pure air,
the sinuous path,
the voiceless purr of the wind...

...from afar, the bells ring...

Échappée Iridescente

World Premiere of Matthew Holmes' tuba concerto 'Eclipse' performed by Stuart Beard and the Oxfordshire Festival Orchestra, under the baton of Edward Leibrecht.

Eclipse - Matthew Holmes

Meditation for Four Human Hands - for Prepared Piano & EBow

A recording of my latest piece for chamber orchestra, performed the London Young Sinfonia at the St Marylebone Festival 2017

"No lily-muffled hum of a summer-bee,
But finds some coupling with the spinning stars;
No pebble at your foot, but proves a sphere;
No chaffinch, but implies the cherubim;
And (glancing on my own thin, veinèd wrist),
In such a little tremor of the blood
The whole strong clamour of a vehement soul
Doth utter itself distinct. Earth’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God."

This work is inspired by a line from Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Aurora Leigh. The poem reveals Barrett Browning’s belief in the immanence of God in even the smallest parts of His creation, and of the abundance of heavenly things in the natural world. I present the line of poetry within the context of a paean or hymn of praise, seeking to explore the connection between Barratt Browning’s intense religious fervour and the more pantheistic visions of Mahler’s Fourth Symphony, with which this work was first performed. To this end my composition assigns clearly differentiated musical material to
‘earth’ and ‘heaven’, but explores the connections between the two, demonstrating that ultimately they are both woven from the same musical fabric. The bright, sustained harmony and lyrical melody at the beginning and end of the work reflect Barratt Browning’s quietly restrained joy in her belief of God’s all-encompassing presence.

Paean: "earth's crammed with heaven"

Manger Musikklag dir. Bjorn Sagstad
Brasswind Festival 2018, Bergen NO, 22nd September 2018

Sheet music for this arrangement and others is available for purchase here:
https://danbaczkowski.com/shop/

Programme Note
Send Fire imagines a prehistoric caveman sat in the cold and the dark. In much the same way as a human might wistfully look at friends’ pictures on social media, he looks with envy across a valley at another caveman who has discovered fire and is having a great time. The piece deals with the idea that connection with other humans through the internet is insufficient when geographically separated by great distances. Something that can be seen but is out of reach if anything only causes greater feelings of emptiness and yearning.

Brasswind 2018

Send Fire for brass band | Manger Musikklag 2018

Track 3 from "I," the debut release from 6563 Records. 
Recorded in March 2019 at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Music by Matthew Holmes
Performed by RCS Students
Recorded & Produced by Adam McDougall

String Quartet No. 2

Matthew Holmes - String Quartet No. 2 (Preview)

Track 2 from "I," the debut release from 6563 Records. 
Recorded in March 2019 at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Music by Adam McDougall
Performed by RCS Students
Recorded & Produced by Amit Anand

Vectors (Preview)

Adam McDougall - Vectors (Preview)

Track 1 from "I," the debut release from 6563 Records. 
Recorded in March 2019 at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Music by Charles Baumstark
Performed by RCS Students
Recorded & Produced by Amit Anand

Fantasie (Preview)

Charles Baumstark - Fantasie (Preview)

Mum (Single)

RNCM's Brand New Orchestra performing the Symphonic Movement I wrote during my bachelors at RCS

Conducted by Omer Shteinhart

January 22nd, 2020

Symphonic Movement [2018] - Matthew Holmes

Composer // Trumpeter // Pianist - Alumnus of RCS (BMus) and RNCM (MMus)

Symphonic Movement [2018] - Matthew Holmes

Matthew Holmes

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