L’Ombre du Vent

The composition, completed in January 2012, was written at the request of Dominique de Williencourt, and is dedicated to JeanFerrandis who gave the première performance.
The title expresses the ambition to transcribe the sensation of the lull after gale force winds, as, for example, in Brittany. The first movement, Les sons des Mâts – Sounds of Masts, is a musical rendition of the sound of rigging against aluminium masts in the wind.
The second movement, Brise, à la surface de l’eau – Breeze on the water expresses the last gusts of the gale, in a percussive style. The final movement, Le Coucou sans son Nid, referring to the Irish song The Cuckoo without Her Nest, develops the original work, with birdsong gradually taking over, reaching a paroxysm of disappointment as the nest is swept away by the wind.

Benoît Menut