Oliver Waespi

Short Stories

Short Stories consists of five short movements, each of which tells its own musical story. Each movement can also be performed independently. The focus is on the music, not a program or meaning that has to be interpreted into the music. Listeners are invited to create their own inner images while listening. The titles of the movements were written after the music and are therefore to be understood cum grano salis. The first movement, "Lay down your tracks", gives the ensemble the opportunity to introduce itself in powerful rhythms. In contrast, the "Serenade" focuses on intimate, delicate, melancholic sounds. The following "Moments fugitifs" are characterized by virtuoso music, full of life and yet imbued with a feeling of transience. In contrast, the fourth movement is a chorale fantasy that is at peace with itself. Its title "Seeland" refers to the area around Biel and can thus be heard as a homage to the host city of the Federal Music Festival. In the last movement, "Crash Bang Wallop!", all dams finally break: grooves in different forms and tempos, virtuoso lines and concentrated chords unfold with audible pleasure in exaggeration and drive the piece to a brilliantly thunderous conclusion. Short Stories was commissioned by the Swiss Wind Music Association for the 35th Federal Music Festival 2026 in Biel (CH).