[#263] August 05, 2024
1980/2004 | Wind Orchestra | Grade 6 | 10’ – 15’ | Concerto
Symphony of Winds, by British composer Derek Bourgeois is our Composition of the Week.
Symphony of Winds was commissioned by Timothy Reynish for the College Band Directors National Association, for the 1st International Conference for Symphonic Bands & Wind Ensembles in 1981.
It was premiered by the California State University Wind Ensemble, at Northridge, United States, conducted by the composer.
The Symphony is structured in three movement, Hurricane, Zephir and March Winds.
It is scored for standard wind band setting.
This work has been reedited by Hafabra Music in 2004.
“Derek Bourgeois’ Symphony of Winds is a virtuosic exploration of the wealth of luxurious sound that is the wind orchestra. The symphony and the subsequent sinfonietta, commissioned by Harry Legge for what is now the National Youth Wind Orchestra of Great Britain, are both difficult technically but not musically, and I suspect that back in the eighties many of us were embarrassed at hearing a world premiere which was enjoyable, challenging the players but not the audiences. It was suggested that the intellectual demands just did not match the technical requirements; now, in a post-modern era, when instrumental technique is far more advanced and composers once again dare to write real tunes and traditional harmonies, it is high time that we revisited these pieces. The first movement is almost a moto perpetuo, a swirling gale that howls through the woodwind, punctuated by syncopated chords and a jazzy farranging theme for brass, resting once briefly. In contrast, the second movement paints an English idyll, gently moving chords and trills of birdsong that are set against an almost Delian melody for brass, with a little scherzando middle section. The finale is an unashamed summing up of every pomp and circumstance march ever penned, with several outrageous jokes, and a trio to end all trios.”
Program Note from liner notes for Mark CD Tim Reynish Volume 3
Derek Bourgeois was born in Kingston on Thames in 1941. He graduated from Cambridge University with a first-class honors degree in music, and a subsequent Doctorate. He spent two years at the Royal College of Music where he studied composition with Herbert Howells and conducting with Sir Adrian Boult.
He has composed one hundred and eleven symphonies, sixteen concertos, several other extended orchestral works, seven major works for chorus and orchestra, two operas and a musical. As well as a considerable quantity of chamber, vocal and instrumental music, he has composed fourteen extended works for Brass Band and seven symphonies for Symphonic Wind Orchestra. He has also written a considerable amount of music for television productions.
From 1970 to 1984 he was a Lecturer in Music at Bristol University. He was the conductor of the Sun Life Band from 1980 until 1983, and during the same period was Chairman of the Composers’ Guild of Great Britain, and a member of the Music Advisory Panel of the Arts Council. In September 1984 he gave up his university post to become the Musical Director of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. In 1988 he founded the National Youth Chamber Orchestra of Great Britain which held its first course in the summer of 1989. In 1990 he was appointed Artistic Director of the Bristol Philharmonic Orchestra.
He left the National Youth Orchestra in August 1993 to become the Director of Music of St Paul's Girls' School in London. He retired to Mallorca in July 2002. In Spring 2009 he moved back to Dorset in England and is now married to Norma, who was born in the Philippines, educated in Hawaii and worked as Administrator to the Vassar College Department of History for nearly forty years.
Other works for winds include:
Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Band (2003)
Concerto for Percussion (1995/2004)
A Costwold Symphony (1988/2000)
Double Concerto for Trumpet, Bass Trombone and Band (2003)
Fribourg – The Old City (2004)
Serenade (1965/1980)
Symphony for William (2004)
More on Derek Bourgeois:
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