Program note:

Sång till Västanvinden" (Song to the Wind of the West) is based on a poem of the same name by Swedish poet and composer Dan Andersson. In the poem, Andersson describes the play of the west wind around his house in Finmarken, and is imbued with the same nostalgic and dark undertones that permeate most of Anderssons output: "Then you shall pray for me when I pass in silence into the land that neither sun or nights can reach..." he says to the wind, in the last verse.

For this piece, I have attempted to use the different sounds and feelings of wind, and to really exploit the woodwinds to tell or augment Andersson's story. The clarinet solo near the end is a folk-like tune which is written to the text of the poem, paying homage to the style of Andersson's own compositions, which I grew up with.

Oskar Österling, 2024