Aerial Fantasy

Aerial Fantasy (2005, Pulitzer Prize nominee, 2007), commissioned by The United States Air Force Band in Washington, D.C., is a work inspired by the thrill and exhilaration of flight. Aerial Fantasy utilizes a variety of musical elements to symbolize the concept of flying: ascending motives, quick tempi, energetic rhythms, and soaring melodies and countermelodies. The contrasting slow section of the work summons feelings of warmth, peace, beauty and majesty—emotional splendors one might experience while hovering above the clouds or above the earth itself. The composition then continues with a return of the initial material and a renewal of the work’s drive and energy. Finally, the music concludes in dramatic and invigorating fashion, encompassing an awesome display of speed, power, precision and agility—characteristics synonymous with America’s magnificent Air Force and with every branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. (Source: Michael A. Mogensen)