….this proved to be a real crowd-pleaser, with swinging rhythms, sharply delineated orchestration, and an extremely tuneful approach.
To a great extent, this music would work beautifully with film, and recalls an era when film scoring was more artful. It brought to mind the best work of jazz-inflected film composers like Henry Mancini, and the music seemed right at home in the art deco glory of the Paramount. (SanFrancisco Classical Voice).
Double Identity
This composition was commissioned by the Oakland East Bay Symphony for their 2009/10 season, with a grant by the James Irvine Foundation, and premiered in April, 2010, at the Paramount Theater in Oakland, CA, under the baton of Michael Morgan.
Since then, the Sacramento Symphony and Atlanta Symphony have performed the piece during their season subscriptions.
Double Identity 1
Double Identity 2
Double Identity 3
“No one will argue with the fact that Jazz is America’s great contribution to 20th century music. And that point was underscored eloquently Saturday evening when the Sacramento Philharmonic performed composer Benedikt Brydern’s “Double Identity” at Sacramento’s Community Center Theater. There is something fresh and immediate about jazz music when rendered through the wide and bold palette of a large orchestra. And the Philharmonic was smart in christening its 2011-12 season with Brydern’s sultry paean to swing and bebop with his three movement work.”(Sacramento Bee)
“Brydern’s Double Identity was a demonstrable success. The work is alive with the idioms of swing and bebop. It abounds with energy, a feature brought out by the orchestra’s bubbly performance, impressive both for its life and for its cleanliness.”(examiner.com)