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Daniel Blinkhorn - Air Masses
recording coming soon |
The motivation for Air Masses is based to a large extent on an interpretation of the kinds of environments that wind ensembles have traditionally been found. As such, throughout the work elements of militaristic, romantic, cinematic, ceremonial, jazz and avant-garde sound worlds are touched on to create music that reflects the intimate and colourful, yet often powerful and evocative, personalities idiomatic to the wind ensemble. The form of the work was inspired by the meteorological phenomena known as an air mass. An air mass is a large body of air that has similar temperature and moisture properties throughout. There are many different types of air masses and with each variety comes a different weather. They can bring scorching heat or bone-chilling cold depending on the type of air mass. Air masses typically clash in the middle latitudes and when this happens some very interesting weather is produced. The air mass is a poignant metaphor for the wind ensemble with the expanded breadth of arrangement for symphonic environment. Five different types of air masses are drawn together as a vehicle for this piece, each one represented by a different section referred to as a Front. 1st Front - Cold and dry air masses with very little moisture responsible for extremely low temperatures. 2nd Front - Cool and moist air masses usually bringing storms, cloudy and damp weather. 3rd Front - Warm and moist air masses producing tropical, hot and humid weather 4th and 5th Fronts - The clashing of continental polar air masses and maritime tropical air masses. |
Although loosely based on some of the exponents of fractal geometry through koch curves and mandelbrot sets, the structure of this work is very much in the form of a sonata. It seeks to explore the more salient, dramatic features found in fractal theory. |