Oliver Waespi

West Wind

The piece West Wind is divided into three sections, each of which has a subtitle taken from poems by Emily Brontë (1818–1848). The poetry of Romanticism, especially that of Brontë, often has a gentle, almost innocent surface, but under it hide natural and unpredictable emotional forces that can erupt at any moment. Accordingly, the opening movement West-wind, in the glory and pride! with a gentle, warm soundscape, accompanied by slightly pulsating patterns, almost like a watercolor. Gradually, however, the music transitions into far rougher, forward-driven gestures – turbulent, restless and at times unpredictable, much like the west wind itself. The Adagio that follows reflects the poem Stars, in which a fundamental tension between enthusiasm and regret – another recurring feature of Brontë's poetry – is perceptible throughout. Introspective solo and chamber music passages give way to a broad, ecstatic sound field involving the entire ensemble, which finally fades out with a solitary monologue from the euphonium. The final movement, Wild words of an ancient song, is an extended rondo scherzo characterized by a virtuoso, constant movement. The feeling of constant persecution is a reference to "The Boy in the Moor" by the German poet Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, a contemporary of Brontë, who explored similar themes, albeit from a different perspective. Although certain core musical elements recur – pulsating patterns, a chorale, a series of notes – the work is characterized less by a systematic symphonic development than by an intuitive stream of different variants. These create a sequence of metamorphoses that illuminate the material from changing angles and project the emotional landscapes of Romantic poetry into the present. West Wind was commissioned by the Flowers Band and premiered under the direction of its conductor Paul Holland at the European Brass Band Championships in Linz (AT), where the ensemble also became European champions.