Music for Airports

This DVD contains two films—Brian Eno's Music for Airports, performed in an arrangement by Bang on a Can All-Stars, and In the Ocean, a documentary on the founders of Bang on a Can musical festival, featuring Michael Gordon, David Lang and Julia Wolfe.

Brian Eno originally composed Music for Airports in 1978, for voices, acoustic piano, and synthesizer, as a means to alleviate irritation caused by going through airport terminals. In doing this, he pioneered the concept of "ambient music," which he differentiated from "canned music" (or "Muzak")—environmental music unworthy of attention. Ambient music, in Eno's eyes, was intended to induce calm and create space to think, and had to "be as ignorable as it [was] interesting" (Brian Eno, "liner notes from Music for Airports," EnoWeb, http://music.hyperreal.org/artists/brian_eno/).

In Frank Scheffer's film, Music for Airports is performed in a "live" instrumental version arranged by the experimental music group Bang on a Can All-Stars. Each of the four movements—1/1, 1/2, 2/1, 2/2—are arranged respectively by Bang on a Can members Michael Gordon, David Lang, Julia Wolfe, and Evan Ziporyn. The movements are scored for instruments used consistently by the Bang on a Can ensemble, including cello, clarinet, electric guitar, percussion, piano/keyboards, and double bass. When Bang on a Can performed their new instrumental version live during the Holland Festival in 1999, it was performed against the backdrop of digital film by Frank Scheffer, shot at Amsterdam's Schipol Airport. Scheffer uses only out-of-focus shots, which merges well with the ambient music of Music for Airports. It is Bang on a Can's performance juxtaposed with Scheffer's film footage that is presented here.

Compared with the music on the original album of Music for Airports, the use of acoustic instruments (in addition to piano) makes this version more interesting. Particularly striking is the sound of the stringed instruments, electric guitar as well as percussion in each movement. The use of clarinet is not as noticeable.

Scheffer's out-of-focus filming style is also employed differently in each movement. This is mostly seen in how specific parts of the airport are featured, resulting in differing color schema in each movement. The color schema is of course contingent upon the original images Scheffer was able to obtain, but it is interesting how consistent the colors seem in each specific movement. For example, Movement 1/1 shows images of people walking through revolving doors and the terminal, and riding up and down elevators and escalators—blacks and whites predominate near the beginning of the movement, and shades of green are presented later. Movement 1/2 primarily contains images of planes outside the airport windows, and the color schema consists mostly of shades of blue. As the movement progresses, the time of day also changes from day to night, and then ends with a plane taking off. Movement 2/1 employs mostly blues, whites and blacks of people moving about, possibly outside the terminal. Movement 2/2 probably contains the most distinct images of human forms moving about the terminal, employing mostly yellows, whites and flesh tones.

Combined with Bang on a Can's arrangements of Eno's music, Scheffer has captured this ambience well through his out-of-focus filming style. Had the filmed images been more distinguishable, the "ambient" effect would not have been as strong. Considering again Eno's statement that ambient music "must be as ignorable as it is interesting," the out-of-focus filming style achieves the same effect from a visual standpoint (Brian Eno, "liner notes from Music for Airports," EnoWeb, http://music.hyperreal.org/artists/brian_eno/ [accessed 18 November 2009]). Through the use of non-distinct images, the viewer is able to be immersed in an environment of color and movement without necessarily paying too much attention to anything specific. The result of viewing is simultaneously intriguing, calming and hypnotic.

The second film on this DVD, In the Ocean, tells the story of Bang on a Can within the larger context of the New York and American music scene. The instrumentation of the group includes clarinets, cello, keyboards, electric guitar, and bass, making it part rock band, part chamber group. According to their Web site, the group was constructed in part to blur the lines between classical and popular ensembles. The music composed by members of the group is intentionally genre-defying (Bang on a Can All Stars, "About," http://bangonacan.org/all_stars/about [accessed 18 November 2009]).

The first part of this film frames the musical landscape from which Bang on a Can emerged. The film almost exclusively focuses on New York City, with music of the various composers set against the backdrop of city scenes interspersed with interview footage. Interviews with Steve Reich, Philip Glass, and others who influenced Bang on a Can, as well as Bang on a Can musicians are included throughout. Reich and Glass discuss how their minimalist music was originally ostracized by the American academic establishment, which is in part why Bang on a Can musicians were originally attracted to their music. Founders Michael Gordon, David Lang and Julia Wolfe also discuss how the forming of their group was a means of bridging "uptown" music (associated with the "academy" and high art) and "downtown" music (associated with minimalism, inspired in part by popular music). The film eventually transitions to a focus on Bang on a Can itself, with members Gordon, Lang and Wolfe acknowledging the influence of Reich and Glass on their music, as well as Dutch composers Louis Andriessen and Martijn Padding.

Towards the end of the film, the focus goes back to Bang on a Can's arrangement of Brian Eno's Music for Airports, where Eno openly appreciates the work Bang on a Can brought to his music. He believed that Bang on a Can brought emotion to the music that he originally did not put there.

The film follows a logical progression in presenting all the elements surrounding Bang on a Can's formation. The interviews with composers influential to Bang on a Can do well in explaining musical and cultural circumstances from which the group emerged. Additionally, the excerpts from each of these composers' works, set against the backdrop of New York City scenes, enhance these explanations both aurally and visually. As a result, viewers will emerge from this film better able to contextualize Bang on a Can's role within the current American musical landscape, as well as achieving a heightened awareness of some of the issues currently surrounding American music as a whole.

The program notes accompanying this DVD, in both English and French, do well to frame the context of both films, and also serve as a means of tying both together. It is useful to read these prior to viewing the films.