Drifting on the Wild Wind
Christopher Gainey
About this work:
Drifting on the Wild Wind (2010) is loosely based on "Wild is the Wind," a song written in 1957 by Dmitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington, first performed by Johnny Mathis, and made popular by Nina Simone on her 1966 album of the same name. I have tried to preserve the melodic flexibility that has been brought to bear on this song not only in Nina Simone's version, but also through the interpretations of other performers (for an interesting contrast to Ms. Simone, I enthusiastically suggest David Bowie's version from 1981). The fluid melodic lines of this piece, which have a mostly indirect relation to the original tune, are supported by harmonies that owe more to the music of Olivier Messiaen than to any of the standard jazz harmonic practices of the late 1950s. However, I found that these two harmonic practices tend to overlap in unexpected ways.
Version: viola and piano
Year composed: 2010
Duration: 00:08:30
Ensemble type: Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice:Keyboard plus One Instrument
Instrumentation: 1 Piano, 1 Viola
Instrumentation notes: please contact the composer (cgainey77@gmail.com) to obtain a version for violin and piano