Windprints

for one to three flutes and mixed indeterminate ensemble (strings, brass, winds) (2005/2010)
duration is c. 12′

“Windprints” (2005/2010) was commissioned by the Alaskan CrossSound Festival in 2005 and rescored in 2010 for an indeterminate ensemble and 1-3 solo flutes. Windprints explores the relationship between environment and imagination through wind. An audio file of ambient wind, recorded on the coast of Alaska, becomes the basis for the purely instrumental work. The frequencies and dynamic properties of the wind over time were mapped into the instrumental parts. In this way, the dynamic structure of the instrumental part is determined by the form of the wind. In effect, the wind “plays” the ensemble. The instruments mediate the wind and pronounced gusts of wind lead to ruptures in the harmonic space of the work, activating melodies and chord changes. As if from prolonged exposure, certain tones become more prominent representing a process of physical memory. The simultaneous expansion and sonic distillation of tones leads to harmonic centers that are derived from natural spectral structures and the freely composed melodies.

score excerpt