
Springtime Dances, Winter Weeps


When confronted with the need for more music to fill a rapidly approaching concert program, I contacted flutist Brijette Tubb to see if she would be willing to learn something on short notice. She very kindly agreed - and I very frantically got to composing, as the music had not yet been written.

Four days later 'Springtime Dance, Winter Weeps' was affixed with a double bar line and sent to Brijette for her appraisal. Along with the music I sent her a profuse apology about the difficulty of the music, as much of my music ends up far more virtuosic in nature than I intend when starting out - and this piece was no exception.

To my great delight, excitement and amazement she was completely and utterly undeterred. The performance, just two weeks later, was a tremendous success.
 Springtime Dances, Winter Weeps is a work of contracts with two starkly different musical feels; it captures the bleakness of winter and the feverish play of spring. It is a virtuosic work that is a great contribution to the flute’s solo repertoire, and one which can be at home in a wide variety of concert programs.

Performed by Brijette Tubb (Flute)
Recorded by Chris Healey

Springtime Dances, Winter Weeps

Described as ‘haunting’, ‘enigmatic’, and ‘inspired’, the music of Australian-born, US-based composer Samantha Wolf inhabits the space between the classical, contemporary, acoustic and electroacoustic worlds, while being grounded in the notated tradition. Her practice encompasses solo, chamber, choral, band and orchestral works, interdisciplinary collaborations, theatrical sound design, and electroacoustic works that incorporate noise, speech, and found sounds. 

Samantha has worked with many of Australia’s leading new music ensembles, including the Melbourne and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, Elision, Ensemble Offspring, The Song Company, the Horsley Williams Duo, Rubiks Collective, and Kupka’s Piano. Her music has been performed around Australia and internationally, including at the Darmstadt Summer Courses for New Music (Germany), soundSCAPE Festival (Italy), Impuls Academy (Austria),  Norfolk Chamber Music Festival (USA), and locally at the Brisbane New Music Festival, Metropolis New Music Festival, the ANAM Set, Tilde New Music Festival, and the 2high Festival. Her music has been broadcast on ABC Classic FM, 3MBS, PBS and 4MBS, and featured by Making Waves, Partial Durations, Collective Soundwaves, and ABC’s New Waves podcast. An avid writer, Samantha’s articles have been published by Resonate, CutCommon and Rehearsal Magazine. Samantha holds degrees from the Yale School of Music, the University of Melbourne, and the Queensland Conservatorium of Music. Samantha is represented by the Australian Music Centre.

Springtime Dances, Winter Weeps

Chris Healey - Composer