Symphony No. V: Elements - III. Wind in E♭

Grade 6
for concert band
by Julie Giroux

Commissioned by Daniel J. Van Abs for The Eastern Wind Symphony,
Princeton, New Jersey, Todd Nichols, Conductor

PROGRAM NOTES

   Starting with a lone Bassoon 1 held note, Mother Nature spins a small breeze with the flutes and clarinets. The technical runs which are used throughout the entire movement have built-in motion with up and down movements, many of which happen in each small statement in each instrument. The first wind blows itself out in measures 31-32 with a crescendo and flourish of notes. In measure 33 the wind starts anew with a more devious nature. This wind also winds down, but instead of stopping completely, is lightly formed into a magical breeze, like that on a beautiful, deserted island or the winds that Peter Pan soars on. Measures 91 to 125 represent such a wind beginning with, again, the magic twinkling of melodic percussion. Jazzy woodwinds are added to the twinkling magic with fluid solos in the Alto Saxophone, Clarinet 1 and French Horn representing a perfect breeze playing across bare flesh. This is the first revisit of a theme from a previous moment but only in orchestration here, not thematically.

    Measure 125, sub-headed Storm Brewing is exactly that. It starts out small but takes on immense power which abruptly stops and a percussion feature section takes over with driving rhythms and solos. The rest of the wind ensemble is added gradually and quickly grows into a huge tornado which just as quickly disappears. At first it feels like we have escaped the full force of wind but then it hits with hurricane force music which drives relentlessly to the end. There follows a recap of the main thematic material of Sun woven into the wind theme. The tornado is not merely represented in the audio of this movement, but visually in the score as well

- J.G.

MP 99160
Duration: 9:25
Score & Parts: $200.00
Score only: $45.00

I. Sun in C
II. Rain in D♭
III. Wind in E♭