WINDSONGS

six songs for soprano, clarinet and piano

poetry by Heather Webster · music by Jodie O’Regan

DURATION
25 minutes

FORCES
Soprano · clarinet · piano

PREMIERE
Windsong Wines, Langhorne Creek, 2022

Karina Bailey, soprano · Amanda Home, clarinet · Yundi Yuan, piano

On a perfect autumn evening in 2022, as the sun set over the vineyard, Karina Bailey sang the first performance of Windsongs with Amanda Home on clarinet and Yundi Yuan at the piano. The cycle sets six poems by writer and winemaker Heather Webster, written at her home and vineyard, Windsong Wines in Langhorne Creek.

When we moved to the Fleurieu Peninsula in 2020, I met writer and winemaker Heather Webster in Langhorne Creek.

Heather had written a series of poems to accompany a new collection of wines, pairing each with artwork by Cathy Portas and publishing them as postcard miniatures.

Her poems were full of Australian sunlight, gum trees, birdsong and affection for home.

When soprano Karina Bailey asked for a song cycle, I thought Heather’s poems would be perfect.

Listen

Live rehearsal recordings from Bishop Hall, Adelaide, accompanied by photographs from Heather’s vineyard and home.

From My Notebook

The Fleurieu is a glorious part of the world. After the uncertainty of moving to the US and then back home for Covid and finding myself on the south coast, Heather’s poetry spoke to me of something I longed for - a connection to home, built over days, seasons and years.

Home, like poetry, wine and music, is something we make.

I added clarinet because there's something in its sound that feels both empty and full, as though it longs for itself, which expressed the sunlight, the vineyards, and the feelings Heather’s words stirred up inside me. I hadn’t written for clarinet before, and Amanda kindly popped over with her clarinet to talk me through what clarinets and clarinetists need.

THANK YOU to South Australia’s regional arts body Country Arts SA for providing funding towards this outdoor concert in Heather’s vineyard at a time when indoor concerts were still considered risky.

As a lovely little postscript I was thrilled to learn Heather printed a run of wine, with an excerpt of my music on the wine bottles.

As a second postscript…

In November 2024, Karina, who had moved to Europe, performed the first two songs at the Australian Embassy in Malta, at a concert celebrating relationships between the two countries.

Performance History

  • November 2024 — “Making Wine” and “Blanc Dos” Australian High Commission Malta, Karina Bailey (soprano) and David Barnard (piano)

  • December 2022 — “Making Wine” performed by Alex Fowles (soprano), Lauren Borgin (flute), Penelope Cashman (piano) her final recital at the Elder Conservatorium Adelaide

  • 30 April 2022 — Windsong Wines Song Cycle, Langhorne Creek. Karina Bailey (soprano), Yundi Yuan (piano), Amanda Home (clarinet)

  • 13 September 2021 — “Making Wine” and “Blanc Dos” Elder Hall, Adelaide. Karina Bailey (soprano) and Yundi Yuan (piano)

Perform The Cycle

The score is available for performance.

I'd be delighted to hear from you if you'd like to perform the cycle or discuss an arrangement for different instrumentation.