Categories: LIGHT CONCERT MUSIC, NEW & RECENT Publications
Composer: Andrew Wainwright
On 20 May 1927, Charles Lindbergh set off for what would become the first solo non-stop transatlantic flight. Taking off from Long Island, New York, Lindbergh
managed to navigate successfully to Paris, France.
Lindbergh took off in ‘The Spirit of St Louis’, a custom-built, single—engine, single- seat, high-wing monoplane from Roosevelt Airfield, Garden City, New York, andlanded 33 hours, 30 minutes later at Aéroport Le Bourget in Paris, a distance of approximately 3,600 miles. This remarkable feat resulted in Lindbergh whirling the$25,000 Orteig Prize, the competition for which the plane was designed and built in just 60 days. It coincided with several other attempts to win the prize, with sixmen losing their lives in three separate crashes, and another three injured in a fourth crash.
Lindbergh’s New York-to-Paris flight made him an instant celebrity and media star. In winning the Qrteig Prize, Lindbergh stirred the public’s imagination. He
wrote: “l was astonished at the effect my successful landing in France had on the nations of the world. It was like a match lighting a bonfire.”
This work for brass band and percussion by Andrew Wainwright describes Lindbergh’s flight across the Atlantic in music. The opening bars through to letter
B represent the moments before Lindbergh’s upcoming attempt at the expedition, and despite a sense of trepidation and uncertainty from onlookers, Lindbergh
displays a quiet confidence represented in the horn solo which introduces the main ‘flight’ theme to be heard throughout the piece, from bar 5. Letters B to D paint
the picture of the take-off, with a gathering of momentum, before the Spirit finds itself in full flight at D with a brisk and virtuosic corner, euphonium and Xylophone trio.
The plane runs into turbulence at G, as the tonal centre becomes somewhat ambiguous and the compound rhythms are juxtaposed with duplet rhythms. At
this point Lindbergh is becoming somewhat agitated and disorientated. However, there is still a sense of optimism that the Spirit will find its intended destination,
with the ‘flight’ motif coming through in various sections of the band. After momentarily losing sight of its direction, there is a realisation that the plane is on
track again three bars before], and the music builds in momentum before a recapitulation in full of the ‘flight’ theme at L. There is a sense of exultation as the
Spirit comes in to land in Paris, as Lindbergh is greeted by a jubilant crowd of onlookers. Lindbergh’s mission has been accomplished and he has become the
first person to ever cross the Atlantic in an aeroplane.
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