What comes to mind when thinking of the Allgäu? Large natural landscapes and tradition would be the simple answer. But what does that actually mean? How should we understand the term “tradition,” and how old must habits and customs be to qualify as traditional?
What we needed was a piece to close the first half of the concert, themed around “France,” that had fire. And of course, the French have plenty of that, but for wind orchestra, we just couldn’t find anything that really fit. So, I took the Farandole (by Ernest Guiraud, based on melodies from L’Arlésienne by …
An experimental work for trumpet and SSAA vocal quartet, with performers singing and playing into the grand piano to generate unusual resonance effects and sonic colors.
Among my first compositions for wind orchestra, this piece—commissioned by HeBu—depicts the cosmic journey of a star: from its formation to its radiant life and eventual demise.