Zephyr’s Lesson was commissioned by the New Music Consort and premiered at Weill Recital Hall in New York City. In Greek mythology, Zephyr is the spirit of the west wind, the one that blows favorably on lovers. If he has a lesson to teach, it’s about gentleness, fun, and the redeeming and enlivening influence of nature.
With its relentlessly normal tunes and chords and its intentionally primitive electronic sounds, it was a pretty nervy piece to write in 1984. Back then atonal modernism still had a lot of juice and sonic complexity in electronic music reigned supreme. But I thought Zephyr should speak simply, so the electronic part is made up of the plainest, most vanilla sounds. Sometimes the instruments, particularly flute, try to teach the electronic “Zephyr” a tune, which he haltingly picks up. There’s percussive exuberance breaking in every now and then, and after awhile the live instruments and Zephyr find a way to dance together.
Zephyr’s Lesson is still one of my favorite pieces. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
– Conrad Cummings
