Spirit of the Wild - Concerto for Oboe by Westlake // Nancy Ambrose King, oboe // K. Kiesler, cond.

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University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance

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Spirit of the Wild - Concerto for Oboe (2016)
Nigel Westlake (1958)
U.S. Premiere
University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra
Kenneth Kiesler, conductor
Nancy Ambrose King, oboe
December 7, 2022
Hill Auditorium
Note by the composer
In mid-2016, following concert commitments in Hobart, I was invited by Bob Brown, one
of Australia’s leading environmentalists, to accompany him on a visit to Bathurst Harbour,
a pristine waterway on the South West Coast of Tasmania contained within the Tasmanian
Wilderness World Heritage Area.
Almost completely devoid of modern human intrusion, the area was the home of the
Needwonnee people for many thousands of years, and is accessible only by boat, plane, or
foot. It is a magical patchwork of button-grass moorlands, heathlands, and estuaries, bordered
by jagged peaks, wild rivers, and rugged coastlines.
My introduction to this place of exquisite beauty became the backdrop to my next project,
an oboe concerto commission for the Sydney Symphony, and as I pondered the ensuing
collaboration with soloist Diana Doherty, the memories and significance of my expedition
with Bob continued to infuse my consciousness, leaving their fingerprints on the concerto
score in subtle and mysterious ways.
As a young boy, my parents had introduced me to the wilds of Tasmania and I am forever
grateful to them for instilling in me a deep love of Australia’s wilderness fostered during
numerous walking and boating expeditions.
My trip to Bathurst Harbour reminded me of the preciousness of the wilderness, and of
mankind’s propensity to become subsumed by materialism, neglecting our connection to
country and the wonders of the natural world, choosing instead to value only those elements of
our environment that can be quantified by monetary worth. Such wild places are truly priceless
and we exploit and destroy them at our peril.
Work on the concerto began when, in an act of courageous exploration, Diana dropped
around to my studio one morning and allowed me to record her performing a dazzling stream
of freeform improvisations. Always up for a challenge, she had accepted my invitation to do so
with characteristic enthusiasm and good will.
To hear such an accomplished classical player liberate themselves from the constraints of the
notated score in this way, to enter “the zone” and follow their musical intuition through a
myriad of patterns, riffs and sequences, was a privilege indeed, and the best possible way for
me to infiltrate Diana’s highly unique, dynamic, and virtuosic approach to the instrument. Her
visit left me inspired and ready to start work.
Performed in a continuum, the concerto can be divided into four distinct sections, the first
two of which are closely related in terms of energy and contour. The third section is a slow
movement in which long, sustained oboe phrases are supported by a detailed filigree of repeated
patterns that ebb and flow in dynamic waves.
A syncopated string canon forms a bridge to the final section, which is perhaps the most
playful and extroverted in manner, building as it does to a traditional-style big finish. The score
is orchestrated for four horns, harp, piano, five percussion, timpani, and strings.
Spirit of the Wild was awarded the prestigious Paul Lowin Orchestral Prize in 2019.