Harbour Symphony (1986)
By Hildegard Westerkamp

It sounded like a herd of happy elephants caught in a traffic jam. —Globe and Mail
Is it going to sound like Oh Canada? —Richmond Review.
Mere words are inadequate to describe what took place when the Symphony began. —
Harbour and Shipping Magazine.

On May 2nd 1986, nearly 150 boats of all sizes and shapes gathered in Vancouver Harbour around Canada Place to perform the first–ever Vancouver Harbour Symphony for boathoarns. The piece was composed on commission from the Canada Pavilion for its Expo 86 opening. It is probably the largest environmental music event ever to be mounted in Vancouver.

Special thanks to Bernard Bomers, Special Events Coordinator for the
Canada Pavilion, who first conceived and commissioned the event; Joe Carter for pioneering the Harbour Symphony idiom (on a smaller scale) in St. John’s Newfoundland, and for helping direct and conduct this one; to Brian Lewis, Marine Consultant, and Mary Jane Green, Logistics Coordinator. Special thanks also to Vancouver’s Marine Community for participating so enthusiastically in all facets of the event and for performing vigorously; to Bob Swanson who designed, and who’s company Airchime made most of the boat horns heard in
this piece; and finally to Ina Dennekamp for playing on Swanson’s horn-set the beginning of Song of the Sockeye, put to melody by Phil Thomas, based on a poem found on a notice board in River's Inlet and written by an unknown fisherman describing his life in the 1930s.

Final thanks go to the late Howard Broomfield, as well as to Victoria
Fenner, Peter Thompson, and Leon Wolf, who recorded the live performance of the Harbour Symphony in the following places in and around the harbour: on the water from one of the participating boats, in the Main Street docks area, in Stanley Park near the nine-o’clock gun and on Canada Place.

In this version you are hearing a mix of these recordings, plus the radio communication before the piece begins and after the conclusion of the event, when the many boats are directed to leave the harbour in a coordinated fashion.

The Harbour Symphony was composed in memory of my brother, Helmut Westerkamp, who, as a cadet sailor on the German training ship “Pamir,” went down in a hurricane in the mid-Atlantic on September 21, 1957.

https://hildegardwesterkamp.ca/

Hildegard Westerkamp - Harbour Symphony

« Retourner aux sources, respirer, regarder les montagnes, ressentir une joie immense après une journée complète à voyager, manquer le vol de connexion, arriver. Faire quatre heures de route, regarder la nuit, être dans un taxi au milieu de la montagne. ».

Texte et narration : Mireya Bayancela 
Création sonore : Véronique Girard
Réalisation : Paul Bradley
Visuel de l’épisode : Oscar Aguirre
Merci aux musiciens de la fête de San Juan et à ceux de la rue à Quito.  
À Eugenio Bayancela et à la famille d'Ibarra: Chela, Carlos, Christina, Evelin, Sebas, Cristel. 

Une production de La Quadrature
NOUS SOMMES PROCESSUS

Voies Mixtes | El Viaje

Composed for Brian Kai Chin and Douglas Cleveland

Arctic Fruit for Trumpet and Organ

The inspiration for this work comes from my deep fascination with the enchanted world of nature, particularly the small species around us. As a fan of Japanese Haiku master Matsuo Basho, I chose three of his poems that reflect on the simple wonders of insects and their connection to our human world.
The piece consists of three movements, each focusing on a different insect: Butterflies, Chestnut Worms, and Cicadas, all sung in Japanese based on Basho’s original Haiku. The work is a choral cycle for SATB voices with piano, with special attention given to the SA and TB sections, symbolizing the voices of both humanity and nature. The piano accompaniment is colorful and elaborate, evoking sounds of ancient instruments.


Basho's Magical Insects premiere Exultate Chamber Singers April 25, 2025

Composition for film, performed by the RTVE Symphony Orchestra, @orquestaycorortve, conducted by Miguel Guerra, Teatro Monumental, Wednesday, July 24, 2024.  

Danzar is one of the first film music works I have ever composed.  While in Spain, I was very inspired by Spanish folk music, including Flamenco which is incredibly moving to experience live. The passion in the performers is radiant!🕺🏾💃🏼 This clip is the dance scene from the 1948 ‘The Loves of Carmen.’

Thank you @gemscourses in Valencia, the short summer course the work was written in, recorded in Madrid.
It was a wonderful experience to learn about a completely different world and approach to music.

Thank you Nigel Lees, Christopher Young, Juanjo Molina and everyone else involved!

Film Credits:
Director/Producer: Charles Vidor
Producer: Rita Hayworth
Writer: Helen Deutsch
Film Clip Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7KbXH67zIg

Danzar (film) (2024)

CAPE FLATTERY
for WIND ENSEMBLE
Program Notes
Cape Flattery is a dramatic and beautiful place. It is the point of land at the northwesternmost
corner of the continental United States; to the Macah Tribe that inhabits the region, it is known as
“the end of the world.” The Macah have inhabited this place for about 3800 years and have lived
sustainably with nature that entire time. Recently, in June 2024, they were granted the rights to
return to a limited subsistence-level whale hunt – one of only two places in the US where this is
legal (the other is in northwestern Alaska). Environmental activists have protested this
allowance, but I think that this might be an example of how we can live in harmony with nature:
knowing how to live sustainably and in harmony with the land we are part of. At Cape Flattery,
there is a lighthouse that warns ships of the dangers there where the Pacific Ocean and the Strait
of Juan de Fuca meet – tempestuous winds, rocky outcroppings, heavy fog and choppy waters.
On a sunny day, the water sparkles, the spray from the waves glitters, the blue of the ocean is
startling against the green of the forest, and seals and whales inhabit the waters. On stormy days,
the waves crash against the rocky shores, the wind whips through the trees, and the view can be
hidden in a heavy mist. These images are the inspiration for this piece, my attempt to express my
love of one of my favorite places.
Cape Flattery Symphonic Poem begins with a burst of drama, presented by the brass, with bold
energy. Shortly, the energy withdraws and becomes melodic, contemplative, the woodwinds sing
and welcome the visitor. The emotion builds again, like a vigorous inhale, and then exhales in
relaxation again. As the winds whip up, a dark storm approaches, signaling danger, becoming
quite dark, and then it passes as quickly as it came. Then we experience the waves, as they ebb
and flow, splashing into the air, and then pulling back out into the sea again. Instrumental solos
weave in and out of the texture created by the piano and vibraphone. The waves grow in intensity,
becoming fuller and adding instruments until the entire ensemble is participating. Next, we
experience the playful, bouncy little creatures of the woods and sea: birds flitting, fish jumping,
otters diving. Finally, all of these elements converge in a final moment of joy and exuberance.

Cape Flattery Tone Poem for Wind Symphony

Nothing Can End: I - Child I Long For (for baritone and piano)

Nothing Can End: II - Language Is the House (for baritone and piano)

Nothing Can End: III - What Does a Mother Say to Her Child (for baritone and piano)

Shakti

Tanaav

Association of Canadian Women Composers

The ACWC is a professional organization for Canadian women composers, their supporters, and the performers of their music.

Hildegard Westerkamp - Harbour Symphony

ACWC / ACC

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