Each new phrase begins over the resolution of the previous one, creating a sense of motion that never completely stops. Near cadences, chromatic dissonances fill the narrow spaces in these harmonies, creating an even greater pull toward wistful nostalgia. Mackey avoids traditional triadic sonorities almost exclusively, instead choosing more indistinct chords with diatonic extensions (particularly seventh and ninth chords) that facilitate the hazy sonic world that the piece inhabits. Though the composer’s trademark virtuosity is absent, his harmonic language remains. From there emerge statements of each of the two folksong-like melodies – the call as a sighing descent in solo oboe, and its answer as a hopeful rising line in trumpet. The introduction presents softly articulated harmonies stacking through a surrounding placidity. The work unfolds in a sweeping arch structure, with cascading phrases that elide effortlessly.
Likewise, although the melodies of Sheltering Sky have a recognizable quality (hints of the contours and colors of Danny Boy and Shenandoah are perceptible), the tunes themselves are original to the work, imparting a sense of hazy distance as though they were from a half-remembered dream. In reality, however, Grainger’s melody was entirely original – his own concoction to express how he felt about his native Australia. Grainger’s Colonial Song seemingly sets a beautiful folksong melody in an enchanting way (so enchanting, in fact, that he reworked the tune into two other pieces: Australian Up-Country Tune and The Gum-Suckers March). Whereas these composers incorporated extant melodies into their works, however, Mackey takes a play from Percy Grainger. Certainly the repertoire has a long and proud tradition of weaving folk songs into its identity, from the days of Holst and Vaughan Williams to modern treatments by such figures as Donald Grantham and Frank Ticheli. The work itself has a folksong-like quality – intended by the composer – and through this an immediate sense of familiarity emerges. Its serene and simple presentation is a throwback of sorts – a nostalgic portrait of time suspended.
As such, at first listening one might experience John Mackey’s Sheltering Sky as a striking departure. At the core of its contemporary development exist a group of composers who dazzle with scintillating and frightening virtuosity. The wind band medium has, in the twenty-first century, a host of disparate styles that dominate its texture.
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