Wild Winds Coldly Blow

Elegy for E-flat Tenor Horn & Brass Band

Inspired by Emily Brontë's poem "Spellbound," Wild Winds Coldly Blow is an elegy for solo tenor horn and brass band that conjures up the atmosphere of the rugged Yorkshire countryside during the bleak winter months.

Program Notes

Wild Winds Coldly Blow was written for Helen Varley (Tenor Horn), Shaun Dooley (Actor) and the Grimethorpe Colliery Band. The work is dedicated to Stella Clarke.

The subject material for the work is the poem ‘Spellbound’ written in 1837 by the writer Emily Brontë, best known for her novel ‘Wuthering Heights.’

Helen Varley requested a work that was firmly rooted in Yorkshire and suggested that Emily Brontë’s poetry would be excellent subject material. The poem’s second line "The Wild Winds Coldly Blow" conjures up the atmosphere of the rugged Yorkshire countryside during the bleak winter months and was the starting point for this short work.

The premiere was given via a video performance filmed and recorded on smartphones during the 2020 Coronavirus crisis. It demonstrated that brass bands could perform and premiere a large ensemble work during a time of severe performance restrictions. A six-minute film can be found on YouTube performed by Helen Varley and the Grimethorpe Colliery Band with Sean Dooley narrating, stills photography by Lorne Campbell and video design and concept by Michael Hamilton.

Wild Winds Coldly Blow can be performed with or without Emily Brontë’s poem.

SPELLBOUND (1837)
Emily Brontë

The night is darkening round me,
The wild winds coldly blow;
But a tyrant spell has bound me
And I cannot, cannot go.

The giant trees are bending
Their bare boughs weighed in snow.
And the storm is fast descending,
And yet I cannot go.

Clouds beyond clouds above me,
Wastes beyond wastes below;
But nothing drear can move me;
I will not, cannot go.

Grade Level: 5
Copyright: 2021
Number of Players: Standard + 1
Duration: 5:00
Publisher: C. Alan Publications
Series: Virtuoso Series
Category: Brass Band

Listen to Recordings

Instrumentation

Conductor's Score

E-flat Tenor Horn Soloist*

E-flat Soprano Cornet
Solo B-flat Cornet (4)
Repiano B-flat Cornet
2nd B-flat Cornet (2)
3rd B-flat Cornet (2)

B-flat Flugelhorn
1st E-flat Horn
2nd E-flat Horn

1st B-flat Baritone
2nd B-flat Baritone

1st B-flat Trombone
2nd B-flat Trombone
Bass Trombone

B-flat Euphonium (1)
E-flat Bass (2)
B-flat Bass (2)

Timpani
Percussion 1: Suspended Cymbal, Glockenspiel
Percussion 2: Vibraphone

*The piece is designed so the band’s Solo Tenor Horn player should perform this work without needing an additional soloist to join the band.