A Celebration of Flight

Track Listings

1. Inventing Flight

2. To Fly Unbounded

3. Wright Flight

4. Flight: The Story of Wilbur and Orville Wright

Editorial Reviews
Album Description
Neal Gittleman writes: "The Dayton Philharmonic’s Wright Brothers Centennial Commissioning project dates back to 1997. At that point, more than five years before the actual 100th anniversary of Wilbur and Orville’s first successful powered flight, it was already clear that something big was called for. 2003 would also be the Ohio state bicentennial, the orchestra’s seventieth anniversary and the DPO’s first season in the new Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center. Given our commitment to the music of today, a major commissioning effort seemed the way to go, bringing to life four new medium-length pieces addressing the broad theme of the Wright Brothers. How do you do that? Easy. You find fearless composers like Bill Bolcom, Robert Rodriguez, Mike Schelle and Steve Winteregg and turn them loose. They attacked the challenge with the same vigor as Orville and Wilbur tackled the challenges of powered flight. Technical problems had to be solved. For the ! Wrights there were issues of wing and propeller design, inventing a control mechanism, finding a light but powerful motor and conquering the multidimensional challenges of lift, yaw and roll. For the composers, there were questions of genre, language, piece-d’occasion – or piece-for-the-ages and "How many percussionists can I have?" In the end, what made both endeavors successful was imagination and inventiveness – the imagination to envision the end result and the inventiveness to make it happen. More than anything else, this CD and the four works it contains reflect the spirit of Wilbur and Orville Wright, the greatest sons of Ohio’s great city of inventors". Allison Janney, of The West Wing fame, was raised in Oakwood, a small suburb of Dayton. She attended Kenyon College in Ohio and landed a role in a play directed by alumnus Paul Newman. Newman’s wife, Joanne Woodward, encouraged Janney with her acting and suggested that she consider studying at New York’s Neighborhood ! Playhouse. She has won three Emmy awards for her work in television.

Tracks:

Concerto No. 2 For Violin & Orchestra , Op. 22 (D Minor): I - Allegro moderato
Concerto No. 2 For Violin & Orchestra , Op. 22 (D Minor): II - Romance
Concerto No. 2 For Violin & Orchestra , Op. 22 (D Minor): III - Allegro con fuoco
Zigeunerweisen, Op.20: Sarasate
Concerto For 2 Violins, Strings & Continuo In A Minor, Op. 3, No. 8 (RV 522) (A Minor): I - Allegro
Concerto For 2 Violins, Strings & Continuo In A Minor, Op. 3, No. 8 (RV 522) (A Minor): II - Larghetto e spiritoso
Concerto For 2 Violins, Strings & Continuo In A Minor, Op. 3, No. 8 (RV 522) (A Minor): III - Allegro
Tzigane
Introduction & Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 28

Tracks:

Concerto No. 2 For Violin & Orchestra In G Minor, Op. 63 (G Minor): I - Allegro moderato
Concerto No. 2 For Violin & Orchestra In G Minor, Op. 63 (G Minor): II - Andante assai
Concerto No. 2 For Violin & Orchestra In G Minor, Op. 63 (G Minor): III - Allegro, ben marcato
Sinfonia Concertante For Violin, Viola & Orchestra, K. 364 (E-Flat Major): I - Allegro maestoso
Sinfonia Concertante For Violin, Viola & Orchestra, K. 364 (E-Flat Major): II - Andante
Sinfonia Concertante For Violin, Viola & Orchestra, K. 364 (E-Flat Major): III - Presto

Tracks:

Quintet, Op. 163, D. 956 (C Major): I. Allegro ma non troppo
Quintet, Op. 163, D. 956 (C Major): II. Adagio
Quintet, Op. 163, D. 956 (C Major): III. Presto; Trio: Andante sostenuto
Quintet, Op. 163, D. 956 (C Major): IV. Allegretto
'London' Trio No. 1 For Flute, Violin & Cello (C Major): I. Allegro moderato
'London' Trio No. 1 For Flute, Violin & Cello (C Major): II. Andante
'London' Trio No. 1 For Flute, Violin & Cello (C Major): III. Finale: Vivace

Tracks:

Concerto No. 1 For Violin & Orchestra (C Major): I. Allegro moderato
Concerto No. 1 For Violin & Orchestra (C Major): II. Adagio
Concerto No. 1 For Violin & Orchestra (C Major): III. Presto
Piano Trio, No. 20, Hob. XV: 10 (E-Flat Major): I. Allegro moderato
Piano Trio, No. 20, Hob. XV: 10 (E-Flat Major): II. Presto assai
Hora Staccato
Perpetuum Mobile
Schon Rosmarin
The Prophet Bird, Op. 82, No. 7
Caprice Basque, Op. 24
Improvisation From Baal Shem: Nigun
Humoresque, Op. 101, No. 7
Flight Of The Bumblebee
Carmen Fantasy

Average customer rating:

Schelle and Bolcom take flight
A fitting tribute
Orville & Wilbur Get Their Day at the Philharmonic

A Celebration of Flight

Manufacturer: Albany Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00029LN5K
Release Date: 2004-06-29

Tracks:

Inventing Flight
To Fly Unbounded
Wright Flight
Flight: The Story of Wilbur and Orville Wright

Album Description

Neal Gittleman writes: "The Dayton Philharmonic's Wright Brothers Centennial Commissioning project dates back to 1997. At that point, more than five years before the actual 100th anniversary of Wilbur and Orville's first successful powered flight, it was already clear that something big was called for. 2003 would also be the Ohio state bicentennial, the orchestra's seventieth anniversary and the DPO's first season in the new Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center. Given our commitment to the music of today, a major commissioning effort seemed the way to go, bringing to life four new medium-length pieces addressing the broad theme of the Wright Brothers. How do you do that? Easy. You find fearless composers like Bill Bolcom, Robert Rodriguez, Mike Schelle and Steve Winteregg and turn them loose. They attacked the challenge with the same vigor as Orville and Wilbur tackled the challenges of powered flight. Technical problems had to be solved. For the ! Wrights there were issues of wing and propeller design, inventing a control mechanism, finding a light but powerful motor and conquering the multidimensional challenges of lift, yaw and roll. For the composers, there were questions of genre, language, piece-d'occasion - or piece-for-the-ages and "How many percussionists can I have?" In the end, what made both endeavors successful was imagination and inventiveness - the imagination to envision the end result and the inventiveness to make it happen. More than anything else, this CD and the four works it contains reflect the spirit of Wilbur and Orville Wright, the greatest sons of Ohio's great city of inventors". Allison Janney, of The West Wing fame, was raised in Oakwood, a small suburb of Dayton. She attended Kenyon College in Ohio and landed a role in a play directed by alumnus Paul Newman. Newman's wife, Joanne Woodward, encouraged Janney with her acting and suggested that she consider studying at New York's Neighborhood ! Playhouse. She has won three Emmy awards for her work in television.

Customer Reviews:

Schelle and Bolcom take flight.......2004-07-20

As a fan of contemporary orchestra music, I looked forward to this release, featuring the music of three composers who are great at what they do: Bolcom, Schelle and Rodriguez. The Dayton Symphony has done a truly marvelous job under Gittleman, turning in performances that are truly great, handling each of the styles of these composers and giving us readings that show the pieces to their best advantage. Bravo, maestro and band! Tech credits are also good - this recording is very crisp and clean.

The quality of the work by the composers themselves, however, is uneven. The first piece on the disc, "Inventing Flight," by William Bolcom is wonderful - American vernacularisms punctuating the robust playing of cellist Mary Davis Featherstone. This is vital, recognizably American, accessible music. The next piece, by the orchestra's tubist, Steven Winteregg, while showing some skill, seems to fall flat, perhaps because it seems so, well, just conventional. The work by Rodriguez disappoints as well. This seems like an unlikely misstep by this composer, whose work is usually of very high quality. However, "Flight: The Story of Wilbur and Orville," does not measure up. "Flight" is just too "literal." Everything that's in the spoken text is in the music (if the text says "up" the music goes up) It's as if Rodriguez doesn't trust his audience's imagination, and has to hand feed us. That can be condescending, even to children.

By contrast, "Wright Flight," by composer Michael Schelle, grabs you from the first notes of the piece and keeps you. A piano concerto (with Andrew Russo in a great performance), this is easily the best work on the disc, this music gives you snippets of many different sound worlds: peaceful tunes (the waltz is very lovely) and colorful, harrowing, frantic rides. The listener is excited, sharing in the bumps and jolts, the building excitement, and the warmth, as the piece unfolds. As a master craftsman, Schelle brings to this disc the lift it needs to really pay tribute the historical contributions by the Wright Bros.

A fitting tribute.......2004-07-10

Program music for the new millennium, a fitting tribute to the disputed "first to fly", I'm fortunate that in 2003 and 2004 I have been able to visit the Smithsonian Flight Museums (both the D.C. and Dulles facilities), and was able to attend the 100th at Kitty Hawk in December and Kitty Hawk again in May. I would like to attend the Wright-Patterson museum in Dayton, along with whatever Dayton has to offer up in tribute to the Wright Brothers. I'm not even a pilot (but my frequent flyer miles are pretty high), timing is everything, I happened to be in all the "Wright" places during the event horizons. This is a good release, I enjoy it.

Orville & Wilbur Get Their Day at the Philharmonic.......2004-07-08

The powers that be at the Dayton (Ohio) Philharmonic came up with a terrific idea several years ago: to commission several (four as it turns out) orchestral pieces to commemorate the centennial of the invention of powered flight by Dayton's own native sons, bicycle mechanics Orville and Wilbur Wright. This CD is the result of that. The composers were given few constraints and the pieces are diverse enough to make a generally interesting and engaging 77 minutes of music.

William Bolcom (b. 1938) is probably the best-known of the composers represented here. His three movement 'Inventing Flight' honors not only the Wright Brothers, but early pioneers of flight: in I 'Daedalus and Icarus' and in II 'Leonardo.' In I Dayton Phil assistant principal cellist Mary Davis Fetherston plays a prominent cello part which personifies Daedalus attempting to caution his impulsive son, Icarus, who is represented by the brass. Bolcom's eclectic music takes a definite turn toward early 20th-c. American music in III 'Wilbur and Orville,' depicting them as jaunty figures whose eventual successful flight is marked by a triumpant march with winds doing loop-the-loops in the sonic stratosphere.

Steven Winteregg (b. 1952) is principal tubist of the DPO. His choral/orchestral piece 'To Fly Unbounded,' has four sections: 'To Flee the Bounds,' 'Dreams of Youth,' 'Hymn of Determination,' and 'Flight into the Unknown.' The DPO Chorus sings words by Paul Lawrence Dunbar and Walt Whitman, as well as a quote from Wilbur Wright--but you wouldn't know that; there are no printed texts and one cannot make out the words with any ease. This piece, although it contains some sweet and occasionally stirring music, particularly in I and III, is fairly forgettable, as most pièces d'occasion are.

'Wright Flight' by Michael Schelle (b. 1950) is my favorite. I am a bit surprised at myself because the piece starts out with a lot of minimalist tick-tocking that is generally not my cup of tea. But in that kind of mechanical sound one can picture Wilbur and Orville tinkering with gears, wires, chains and motors in their shop. When the music opens out into a soaring 'flight theme' (it could have come from the pen of John Williams) one smiles with pleasure. Section IV, 'Wright Waltz,' is pure delight.

The final piece, a 22-minute mélodrame whose text is read by the Dayton native and star of 'The West Wing,' Allison Janney,('C.J.'), with libretto by Sukey Smith, recounts the efforts of the Brothers. The music by Robert Xavier Rodríguez (b. 1946) is, for me, faceless and unmemorable. Further, the audio level of Janney's narration is often so low that one cannot make out what she is saying.

In sum, then, I liked the Bolcom and the Schelle, didn't respond much to the Winteregg and Rodríguez. That's not a bad average, if you think about it, for four new compositions that were commissioned for a special occasion. The Dayton orchestra under conductor Neal Gittleman is reasonably able for a middle-level American orchestra.

Tracks:

Flight Of The Pegasus
When Angels Weep
King Cobra March
Dedicata
Arabesque
Windward Passage
Fanfare And Festival Celebration
Suncoast Carnival
Joyous Spirit
Pageant Of Light
The Quest
Whitewater Festival
Blazing Fury March
Regatta For Winds

Customer Reviews:

A treat for the wind band enthusiast.......2002-07-15

Refreshing and contemporary. These are some of Shaffer's older and more difficult pieces for band. His style can best be described as assertive, refreshing and rhythmic. He has a keen skill for counterpoint and beautiful melodies. While the harmonic language remains largely tonal, tone colour exploration, dissonance, and surprising harmonic progressions are far from uncommon. The Washington Winds provide a superb recording of some of the best music for younger ensembles. Among my favourite are : Flight of the Pegasus, Arabesque, Windward Passage, Fanfare and Festival Celebration, Pageant of Light, and Regatta for Winds.

Music Review: