Wind Quintet #1 - "Medieval"

by Kevin Lay, performed by Chameleon Winds

A few years back Cascadia Composers hired the Chameleon Winds (Abby Mages, flute; Alan Juza, oboe; Sean Kelleher, clarinet; Dan Partridge, horn; and Sam Rhoton, bassoon) for their annual spring concert.

I’ve always loved the neo-classical Stravinsky period and drew from that love in this little work. There’s something about reeds and winds that tastes savory to my ears, even if it’s also sweet.

The first movement is called somnium. Somnium is the Latin word for dream. It begins and ends with bright yet suspended harmonies which sandwich a playful exchange. It was apparently a happy dream that ended sweetly if semi-sweetly (think semi-sweet chocolate chips).

I’m not a historian but am convinced that medieval life wasn’t constant drudgery and suffering for most people. Medieval people were resilient. They were more like us than not. The 2nd movement is based on a series of stacked 5th intervals 1-5-9 starting from a various of tonal starting points. The clarinet states this simple theme at the start like the beginning of summer.

There’s perhaps nothing particularly medieval about summer or dreams, so I added a title that touches on court life. The third movement is about a grumpy old palace guard (the bassoon). He’s laughed at by his comrades but one of the princesses (flute) endears him.

Writer and thinker Martín Prechtel teaches that three things persist across time through which we might explore our cultural inheritances from our distant ancestral past:

• food

• music and musical instruments

• how to have a good time

The last and fourth movement, “merriment” is inspired by the last two items. It’s music about people making merry. Dancing, drinking, smoking, joking….

I hope this little piece brings you a measure of merry.