The Wyken Slough Suite

The Wyken Slough Suite

5 pieces for piano by Austin Griffiths January 2023

1. Winter birds at dawn (0.04)

2. Dragonflies and Damsels (4.16)

3. Uncertain winds on water (7.03)

4. Progress of the Swans (10.29)

5. Murmurations at dusk (13.08)

The Wyken Slough in Alderman’s Green is the biggest bit of open water in Coventry. In the 1970s it had a play area, ice-cream vans, small rowing boats for hire – and even hosted hovercraft races. Today it is a nature reserve. It is on the Sowe Valley footpath and a haven for a variety birds and other wildlife in its mixed grassland and wetland habitats.

1. Winter birds at dawn is about the Slough at daybreak. Written in 7/8 it depicts the smoothness of flight eliding with the unpredictability and wind and water.

2. Dragonflies and Damsels are a wonderful feature of the Slough and this piece celebrates the blue and red Hawkers and Damselflies that light up spring and summer.

3. Water and wind can be unpredictable and Uncertain winds on water uses 5/8 time to paint the threat and uncertainty of a gathering storm.

4. Progress of the Swans, a march, follows the line of majestic swans patrolling their realm and asserting their dominance over the smaller inhabitants of the pool.

5. Murmurations at dusk is not just about the starlings, but also some of the other birds, such as gulls, that flock together in flight as evening draws in on the Slough.