Music Review - Airport Scenes (Orchestral Suite from "Flight"): IV. Dawn Landing

Johnathan Dove's Airport Scenes are not wholly standalone pieces. They are an orchestral suite from Johnathan Dove and April De Angelis' opera "Flight", which I recommend you see (although I haven't, if the orchestral suite is anywhere near as good as the opera it's something you don't want to miss out on). There are five pieces in Airport Scenes, and this one is the fourth, as made obvious by the roman numerals. I listened to the rest of the Orchestral Suite, but I really don't know if any top this piece. As with the story of the last piece I reviewed, I found this piece from the radio; props to ABC's Classic FM. Any fellow Brisvegas inhabitants can find it at 106.1 MHz, and I think it's 107.3 MHz at the Gold Coast and Hinterland (or maybe the Sunshine Coast, I'm dumb), but don't quote me on that.

Back to information about the piece, the recording I'm basing my thoughts of off is an amazing performance by the BBC Philharmonic conducted by Timothy Redmond. I don't particularly care for conductors and orchestras, but to my knowledge the BBC Philharmonic is quite prestigious. I miss the BBC, hope I can go back to England some day once Covid-19 clears up.

Huh. Just started properly storming and hailing outside. I was gonna go get bubble tea right about now >:(. Did you hear about that tornado in Bathurst (almost got the brunt of it back at Kilkivan - tree fell on a house at Nambour)?

Dissection

Now, my musical knowledge might not be up to scratch to glamorize this piece to a level it deserves, but I'll try my best. I'm a bit unsure about whether or not I like the start. While I love the copious winds and the odd kind of lingering feel, I really don't know if the tubular bells were a good addition. Whatever notes they're playing there though, I love it, although it feels a bit lopsided as there are only three runs, not the usual two or four. The last note in the opening being played by the strings feels a bit out of place too.

This is the part that I first fell in love with! It starts off extremely sparse and quiet, with a new motif being introduced on a different instrument. Eventually, the original motifs are reintroduced with new ones intertwined but they repeat instead of fading out, and it creates this lovely background for the following chords. It's so impressive how the following chords are so non-diatonic sounding but fit close to perfectly with the meshwork in the background. I know I used this word way more than I needed to for my Sungazer, Vol. 1 review, but above the chords (two or three each time before a short break) the oboe soars beautifully, outlining a slightly different melody than the chords allude to. All the while the background repeats and repeats. Then, the lower brass bursts through at around 1:10 to signify the end of the section, and the background slowly fizzles out.

I also find the next little bit quite odd. It's a faster, almost swung variation on the opening, tubular bells and all. This time it really creates tension and never really seems to resolve. I don't know if I'm a fan of it, though I know I'm a fan of the next section. The brass is almost fanfare-like, and I'm in love with the fast runs up to each 'fanfare' - I also love the faint clarinet doubling of the brass section. 1:39 is a really nice moment, and it just feels so light - you barely notice the strings come in.

1:42 is back to the rising-tension-repeat-of-opening type beat; this time it's a lot short and only serves to segue into the next section. I may add, there are so many sections in this piece, it's very impressive. Now, I'm never a fan of solo trumpet, but it's not objectively bad. The light almost-arpeggios in the background played by the upper register violins is also reminiscent of flight, and fits the theme quite well. Though, I do like it when the piccolos come in and are contrasted by lower brass, all the while the piccolos seem to still be clear to be heard. 1:58 is one of my favourite moments of the whole piece, with the lowest brass just bursting through with such a triumphant, almost unexpected note right there, with the rest of the brass and presumably winds section being brought into the melody.

The impressive thing about this piece is not only how many sections it has but how seamlessly it moves between them. I love the fast arpeggios played by the flutes/piccolos and violins in the background while the upper brass and strings play this odd rhythm; I think there might be some metric modulation at play, but I'm not an expert in music theory. I don't normally comment on percussion in classical music but the triangle made my day there. Once again, the brass takes a soaring melody here, and is feels like a sunrise. This whole piece is amazing at theming.

I LOVE THIS PART!!! It starts of out of nowhere with descending piccolos and trilling flutes, tremolo'd snares and a sustained strings note and then, oh, and then:

NOTATED MUSICAL CHAOS. You don't understand how unbelievably difficult it is to notate chaos in music, and this isn't even atonal at all. The only other good example I know is by Joe Hisaishi, but I can't recall the name of the song right now. I love it so much, especially with the deep rumble of the bass drum and timpani here. It's a bit unexpected because it swiftly transitions back to the part before, but then that part transitions to the part before itself, and it's a bit of an oscillation between the two themes. It's surprisingly well executed, but when you think about it, the orchestration between the two themes is barely different. Then, it transfers back to the first theme after the musical chaos, and slowly fades out to this muddled, deep rumbling section. I also love this part; there's just something about the acoustics here that is so amazing, with the chaotic strings, and the emerging tuba/euphonium part.

I've never been too much of a fan of the next part. It's not exactly out of place or anything, and it does feel like a dawn landing kind of thing, but the dominant broken chords played by the French horn, just... It's not something I like. At least it's only short. The fading in string notes aren't bad, and I know what effect Dove was trying to create, but it didn't really work with the instruments and classical training at play here. Then, the high bassoon comes through, and it's really nice, and so unbelievably different to Stravinsky's Rite of Spring it's almost shocking that it's also a bassoon. Whatever notes they're playing there I like.

The introduction of the pizzicato lower strings and some of the other members of the orchestra was a bit unexpected, and it makes the piece take a pretty dark turn, but I love the sound of it, even if it is slightly repetitive. The string notes are still a bit out of place. I do like the clarinet kind of pulse thing that comes in afterwards, but I guess I'm a bit biased, haha. It's not clarinet for the whole time, and I like how it seamlessly shifts instruments. A transition back into the arpeggiated part, almost expected, but the melody is changed a bit this time. It slows down, a welcome touch while the drama is built up by the introduction of lower brass once more. I really appreciate Johnathan Dove actually taking notice of the winds section of the orchestra, unlike a lot of classical music.

The almost epic sounding chord there with the rumble of the bass drum feels really triumphant and once more fitting of the title. I think a melody I've heard earlier in this piece comes back here (or at least something similar to it), with swooping flute/piccolo arpeggios above it. It's a nice point for a fade out around here, because it just keeps repeating the same motif quieter and quieter, but there's still a bit more to the song. The strings are back here, ending the piece off with a sustained, almost unresolved sounding note to calmly finish of Johnathan Dove's Dawn Landing.

Summary

Overall, one of my favourite orchestral pieces. The pacing is a bit off at times, but it shows insane mastery and knowledge of composition. It's a bit hard to listen to on loop due to the slower, emptier parts, but it overall is a lovely song, and thematically strong. It really does feel like a flight, and the whole thing is so majestic and magical, except maybe the darker part towards the end. Not really too much else to say, but I've loved this piece for a while, it's just hard to listen to on loop or interspersed into a playlist. Overall, I think it's deserving of a:

9.25/10