Elements of Wind and Wood
for Woodwind Quintet
Composed 1990, drastically re-written May-June 6 2004
Duration: about 15 minutes 30 seconds
(live recording of a rehearsal). Erik
Gratton, flute; Roger Wiesmeyer, oboe; Lee Levine,
clarinet; Radu Rusu, horn; Gil Perel, bassoon,
Nov. 2005
Full
Score, PDF Cover
Parts
I. Prelude, Moderato latino
II. Relaxed [total 11:10] MP3 recording (movements 1 & 2) Wav file
III. Don't Run Out of Breath [4:20] MP3 recording Wav file
In 1990 I wrote several works for my
friend Fred Robinson who was the composer/arranger at Warner Robins Air Force
Base in Georgia. Among these was a work for jazz band (The Popular Music of Planet X), a movement for brass quintet, and a
short woodwind quintet. The Air Force didn’t seem to appreciate the effort, and
the score and parts were returned. (When you bomb with the Air Force….you REALLY BOMB!)
In 1991, all of my scores were thrown
into the landfill by my landlord as I was led off to five years in prison for
LSD. I didn’t get back to composition until 2003. By then I had collected many
scores from several musicians in pristine condition, as they had never been
performed. Then in 2004 I went back to most of these scores, and I completely
rewrote this woodwind quintet. My uncle, David Vanderkooi, lives in Nashville,
and at the memorial service there for my mother Frances Westman in 2005 I met his friend oboist Roger Wiesmeyer. He
was kind enough to get other members of the Nashville Symphony together to
perform Elements of Wind and Wood
that November. However, I was unable to get to Nashville for either rehearsals
or performance. I was sent a sample recording of a rehearsal to review. It was
significantly too fast in the second and third movements, but I used Sonar to
slow down the music and make a fresh recording. As there was a mistake in the
horn part in the first movement, the recording was not together for a bit in
that movement.
Unfortunately,
Roger’s laptop was stolen after the performance, and it held the only copy of
the recording of the performance. As a result, all I have for now is the
digitally massaged rehearsal tape posted here. I am hoping that a woodwind
quintet will perform and record this piece before too long so that I can
present a more polished version, as well as a video.
Sometimes
life is not so easy.