Winning composition: “Where Does Your Body End”
About Ben
Ben Matney is a composer and songwriter who has worked across a wide range of genres and stylistic mediums. His music is characterized by its immersive quality, relishing evocative texture and beveled dissonance as well as melodic lyricism.
Matney’s work has been performed by renowned ensembles such as earspace, Red Pine Wind Quintet, Sounding Board, Khemia, and the Raleigh Symphony Orchestra. He has also written as a solo artist and in collaboration with other musicians. Matney is based in Raleigh, NC.
When did you start composing? How would you describe your composition style?
I wrote my first piece as a child but didn’t pursue composition seriously until much later. My work tends to favor diatonic modalism, soft dissonance, and structures that imply narrative. It has a moody, cinematic quality.
What influences your composition style (genres, instruments, composers, etc.)?
A few names that come to mind: Henryk Górecki, The Cocteau Twins, Arvo Pärt, Charles Mingus, The Master Musicians of Jajouka, Julia Wolfe, Trent Reznor, Gamelan, Max Richter, Aaron Copland, Fairouz, Bill Evans, Ornette Coleman, Arooj Aftab, Nick Cave, Ennio Morricone, and Claude Debussy.
How do you choose texts for your pieces?
I write my own text. Usually the words come last and are written in response to the music.
What do you enjoy most about composing for voices?
Writing for voices requires a hands-on approach. I didn’t know how this piece would sound until I sung the lines myself. This performative aspect of the writing heavily informed the direction it took. At the outset, there was a steep learning curve; the piece had to “teach” me to write it, as it were. I was mostly in the dark until the end, which was frustrating but also immensely pleasurable.
Tell us about your piece. Is it similar to other pieces you’ve composed? What was your inspiration? etc.
The music took on a distinctly wave-like quality. Accordingly, the text eventually became a meditation on the “oceanic feeling” described by Romain Rolland in a letter to Sigmund Freud, a feeling of self-dissolution and oneness with the universe. Freud regarded it as the basis for religion, while for me, it serves (at least partly) as the impetus for composing.
Any social media handles, websites, or YouTube channels you’d like us to list so that people can learn more about you/your work?
My home site is benmatneycomposer.com. Some of my solo work can be found on bandcamp (https://benmatney.bandcamp.com/album/the-fold) and soundcloud (https://soundcloud.com/benmatney)