Westerlinck, Wilfried

Westerlinck, Wilfried

Landschappen VI (Landscape VI) – string quartet (First Edition) score and parts (2008)

(Leuven, 3 oktober 1945)

Wilfried Westerlinck studied at the Royal Conservatories of Antwerp and Brussels with eminent composers such as Victor Legley, Jan Louël and August Verbesselt and with composer-conductor Daniël Sternefeld. In Monte-Carlo, he acquired further skills in orchestral conducting with Igor Markevitch. Between 1971 and 1983, he taught musical analysis at the Antwerp Conservatory, but he developed his career as a producer at the classical music station of the Flemish Radio and Television Broadcast. As a composer, he proved his mettle with the orchestral work Metamorfose (1971), his series of Landschappen (Landscapes, 1977-1983) for different strengths, three string quartets (1978-1994), two piano sonatas (1983-1985) and several works for wind instruments, among them the frequently performed Kijk, een basklarinet in mijn tuin! (Look, a Bass Clarinet in my Garden!, 1985) for bass clarinet, Talisman (2001) for clarinet and Meeting a Mockingbird in Texas (2009) for piccolo. Westerlinck draws his idiom from the modernism of the first half of the 20th century, paying particular attention to colour and timbre and a clear musical story.

In Landscapes VI, the composer continues his series of abstract chamber music compositions: Landscapes I (wind quintet, 1977), Landscapes II (string orchestra, 1979), Landscapes III (brass quintet, 1980), Landscapes IV (flute, harp and string trio, 1981) and Landscapes V (trumpet and twelve string instruments, 1983). In these compositions, Westerlinck explores the varied combinations of instruments, in which the idiomatic sound of the instrument and the timbre of the ensemble prevail, all in one move.

Landscapes I received an award from the Province of Antwerp and numbers II, III and IV were recorded on CD (II: Phaedra CD/92038; III: Bobcat MM 9801); IV: Phaedra CD/92012). A recording of Landscapes II can also be found on the monographic CD Libra, which contains a selection of Westerlinck’s oeuvre (Senza Nome).

On Landscapes VI, the composer wrote the following: “After 25 years, the composition idea that was honoured in the first series, Landscapes (I to V), is resumed, this time to write a composition for string quartet. This piece evolves in one big move, where the foundation is not the exploration of timbres as such, as was the case in the previous Landscapes. It does however fit perfectly, because once again, the unity offers a framework to explore chosen material in a concentrated manner. The material is limited to a minimum once more. It even comes from another recent work for clarinet and harp. The idea of contrast has become crucial for the course of the piece. The aleatoric element, which was prominent in earlier ‘Landscapes’ (e.g. I, III or IV), is now nowhere to be found.
The course of the composition evolves in contrasting phases, starting from derivates of the same musical cells, which nevertheless creates a balance, a method that can be found in other compositions as well.”

The composer wrote the work in three weeks time, during quite a turbulent period in his life, under the beaming winter sun in Florida, in Freiherr Gerda and Horst Vol Paleske’s beach house, to whom he dedicated the composition.

Jan Dewilde, Wilfried Westerlinck

(translation: Jasmien Dewilde)

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