Philip Sparke

Golden Winds

Golden Winds was commissioned by Jugendblasorchester Schramberg, Germany, to celebrate their 50th anniversary in 2012. They gave the premiere, conducted by Andreas Hirt, at their Christmas concert that year. The work opens with a nervously energetic theme in the lower woodwinds, which is developed in canon and builds to climax for the whole band. The mood subsides to introduce a meditative section featuring first the clarinets and then a rich, chorale-like theme which grows into a passionate tutti. This then leads to the main body of the piece, a rhythmic vivo, which introduces its main theme quietly before it is taken up by the full band. A brief bridge passage then introduces a muscular second subject which develops until the bridge passage reappears to lead to a repeat of the main theme. This is transformed to herald a return of the opening bars of the piece, which now bring the work to a celebratory close.