Leaves upon the Wind

Description

A work originally written for the wind orchestra ‘Riga’ for a concert of new works in honour of Latvian poets during the White Nights arts festival in Riga. It premiered on September 5, 2015 under the baton of Janis Retenais. The commission requested that the piece be accompanied by an electronic musician, but I’ve written the piece to work without it’s inclusion if impractical.  I most enjoyed the many sounds the wind makes when I lived in a wagon near a fishing harbour in a southern neighbourhood of Copenhagen. Here in Riga, light ripples through the leaves outside my window, casting animated translucent shadows on my wall, sometimes dimpled by the sun reflecting off the river Daugava. The title was inspired by the Latvian poet Rainis’s book of poetry by the same name ‘Vēja nesta lapas’.  After having the poetry within this book translated to me over several converstaions, I decided to use consonant material and scales derived from spectra, while focussing on rhythms of wind-activated sounds and lights.  Combining these impressions and this compositional approach, the music attempts to mimic many mannerisms of the wind, and is structured over a sequence of scenes or behaviours.