Next spring is sure to come

For countless people, spring is the most beautiful of all seasons. The well-known German poet Johann Gottfried Herder (1744 – 1803) sums it up when he says: “What spring did not sow, summer cannot ripen, autumn cannot reap and winter cannot enjoy”. Many composers have taken up this season and created more or less successful works. The following report presents a new composition by the composer Gottfried Veit.

The composition DER FRÜHLING (The Spring) by the South Tyrolean composer Gottfried Veit begins with a “prelude” in the character of a “toccata”. All registers of the wind orchestra are given the opportunity to warm up with lively sixteenth-note figures as well as with organ-point-like sustained notes. After this relatively extended introduction, the actual main part of the work follows, in which the clarinets take centre stage with a memorable cantilena. In the repetition of this part, the tenor instruments contribute an equally memorable countermelody, i.e. a counterpoint. As a contrast, a new section in six-eighths time follows, which is reserved for the brass instruments. They now finally evoke spring with polyphonic fanfare sounds. After this, the clarinets’ cantilena is heard once more, but here by all the woodwinds in a three-part movement underpinned by a sustaining accompaniment. Through a “Dal Segno” leap, we now hear the preluding introduction – this time without repetition – a second time. This then leads directly to an almost spectacular “coda”, which has the character of a double cadenza.

In addition to this new composition by Gottfried Veit, however, there are countless other large and small compositions available concerning spring. In this list you will find works for wind orchestra from Georges AEBY to Jaroslav ZEMAN in every performance level.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top