Move by The Westerlies

This album is something we never thought possible when we played our first notes together a decade ago. It pushed us to the brink of our abilities, and forced us to find sounds and extended techniques we didn’t know existed. It challenged us emotionally, forcing us to confront our purpose as an ensemble after spending over a year apart in lockdown. More than anything, it revealed to us – in small, sacred moments — a world of possibility for the next decade and more.

At the heart of this album is Caroline Shaw’s string quartet Entr’acte. We immediately fell in love with the piece upon hearing it performed by Attacca Quartet on a snowy night in Brooklyn in 2016, and with Caroline’s blessing, we spent years translating every pizzicato and ponticello through our four horns. The result is something that captures everything we love about the original piece, and at the same time feels completely our own.

The album takes its name from Nico Muhly’s 2017 work for solo piano, celebrating one of our heroes, Bob Hurwitz. We have long been a fan of Nico’s writing, but had never tried adapting his music until now. We divided it in hockets: each Westerly acting with the independence of a single finger on a piano key, but with the greater cohesion of one hand.

For Rosa, by Mason Bynes, was co-commissioned by the Festival of New Trumpet Music and The Westerlies in 2020, and premiered in-person at the Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery, Alabama on the 66th Anniversary of her historic protest. Mason describes the piece as a “musically expressed love letter to Mrs. Rosa Parks,” and we are so proud to present it here as our first commission.

Original music has been a core part of our identity since our early days as a band, and Andy Clausen raises the bar with his three-movement work This is Water. Originally commissioned for full orchestra as a companion piece to Benjamin Britten’s Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes, Andy adapted it for The Westerlies to showcase the ensemble's full range of expression from ten years of exploration.

Here’s to the next decade — we hope you enjoy the music.

The Westerlies
June 2022

“folk-like and composerly, lovely and intellectually rigorous.” - NPR

"Chamber music with bracing melodies and, crucially, an undeniable sense of fun." - L.A. Times

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