Tramontana (Score)

KLAAS COULEMBIER | GR6 | SCORE  | 

Just like the better-known Mistral wind in southern France, the Tramontana is a special meteorological phenomenon that was given its own name (transmontanus, Latin: “the other side of the mountains”). This strong wind moves from north to south over the Pyrenees. Due to the specific formations of the mountain range, the Tramontana develops into an increasingly accelerating wind. The so-called Venturri effect creates a vortex that compresses the air and accelerates air movement to peaks of more than 150 km/h.

The subtitle of the work is A Wind Concerto, and refers both to the wind in a literal sense and to the usual English terminology for concert band: Wind Band. The score is challenging for every group of instruments, sometimes giving it the allure of a Concerto for Orchestra. There are also some literal references to the most famous composer of a Concerto for Orchestra, Béla Bartók.

Tramontana was composed for the Royal Windband Schelle, under the direction of conductor Dirk De Caluwe. The musical material is derived, according to ancient custom, from several important letters. The conductor's initials yield the motif re – re – do (DDC), while the abbreviation KHOS, through a system of chromatic letter assignment, resulted in the notes sol – sib – re – fa#, harmonically a minor-major seventh chord. Almost all elements of the work can be traced back to these motifs or to a combination of them (see later in the analysis).