January

by Matthew Whittall

for wind quintet

Description

As a young horn student I played in a wind quintet, thoroughly
enjoyed its repertoire, then pointedly avoided it as a composer. It’s an
ensemble rife with pitfalls, balance and intonation problems, voicing
difficulties, and on and on. When I finally came to write for it, these
challenges seemed to demand a lightness of touch, so I went in
determined to have as much fun as possible.

The opening of January introduces a simple motif on DGAF, which
functions as a motto both musically and attitudinally. The title holds a
number of associations: January is a month of fresh starts, of pledges
made and abandoned just as quickly; it’s the month of my birth, and in
which I wrote this piece during a residency on the Gulf of Mexico, which
lent it a sunny, upbeat tone. The music winds its way in a carefree
manner through a series of repetitive grooves before opening outward
with a question mark, to be continued someday in February.

Instrumentation

fl, ob, cl, bsn, hn

Category

Chamber Works

Premiere

Arktinen Hysteria wind quintet, Oulu Music Festival, March 15, 2023, Oulu, Finland

Commisioned by / dedications

Commissioned by Arktinen Hysteria with the assistance of the Teosto commissioning fund and the Oulu Music Festival.

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