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| wild woods | |
| Date Completed: | January 22, 2023 |
| Duration: | between 10 and 15 minutes |
| Instrumentation: | solo flute and concert band |
| First Performance: | Lindsey Goodman, solo flute Ashland University Concert Band Joseph Lewis Jr., conductor March 17 2024 Hugo Young Theatre Ashland University Ashland, Ohio first performance |
| Comments: | for Lindsey Goodman and the Ashland University Band, Joseph Lewis, Jr., Director Ashland, Ohio |
| Program Notes: | wild woods Lindsey Goodman has been my devoted friend and champion of new music for many, many years. We had often talked about my writing a concerto for her for nearly a decade, but in the Autumn of 2016, my composing life ground to a halt- I felt I would die if I had to write another note. I arranged a few pieces of music by others but felt great relief in not adding to my own pile. And then the coronavirus pandemic hit, and I felt the despair of my students - especially those in the orchestra. At the same time, I felt a strong desire to return to an earlier compositional path I had abandoned in my 20s. In January 2021 I inquired about their personal tastes in music and created little pieces for them to play at home - I began with two pieces for mandolin and then a collection for nearly all the orchestral instruments and called it a m- all playable individually or brought together virtually for internet broadcast. Hearing about this activity Lindsey asked if I might be ready to make good on the flute concerto idea -and then I remembered a strange incident from my childhood: walking home one night in suburban Akron Ohio I heard a wooden flute as if right next to me playing a mournful tune that sounded centuries old. I thought I would capture the loneliness of that experience and transform it with a walk in the woods (more wild than my old neighborhood), literally the English 16th century tune "Will you walk the woods so wylde" - set by both William Byrd and Orlando Gibbons, whose setting I briefly quote. Knowing that I would be writing for the Ashland University Band, I have tried to provide an entertaining, interesting experience for the musicians. The woods have always been a place to escape to- leaving routine and tedium behind for new adventures that might expand our understandings of ourselves, our strengths and desires. I hope it will be fun. Roger Zahab |