American composer Mark Edwards Wilson takes us around the world on Dangerous Journeys. We start in the white water of a river to brave its rapids. We then visit a lonely nightingale, singing amidst the ruins of its native Ukraine. Finally, we take to the skies to soar above all that lies below in our troubled world. It’s still a life of danger, with invisible foes besetting us on all sides, but that’s what you get in the life of a dancer.
Mark Edwards Wilson, 2025 (photo by Benjamin Ealovega)
We start by the river. At first, it seems like it will be OK. You slip in the water, and gradually everything is in motion. You don’t feel in control, you barely missed that rock! Will the water catch the edge of your little boat and overturn you?
Running Crystal Rapid in the Grand Canyon (photo by Bradley Ilg)
Mark Edwards Wilson: Dangerous Journeys – I. White Water (London Symphony Orchestra; Robert Ziegler, cond.)
You get used to the danger, how to skirt that whirlpool, how to avoid that fall, and it all gradually becomes calm again, but with the occasional hint of danger, at the end, it’s just your beating heart.
The second movement takes us to one of the most dangerous places in the world right now: Ukraine. Wilson pictures a nightingale, the national bird of the country, mournfully singing its eloquent song over the destruction that surrounds it everywhere.
At the end of the movement, all the birds join in to sing for the redemption of the beleaguered people of the war-torn country.
Ron J. Davis: The White Dove of Peace visits the Nightingale of Ukraine, 2022
Mark Edwards Wilson: Dangerous Journeys – II. Among the Ruins the Nightingale Sings (London Symphony Orchestra; Robert Ziegler, cond.)
High above the ground we move, soaring in the invisible air. Caught by the updrafts and whirled around by the downdrafts, it’s an exciting journey. The single theme is constantly transformed as the flight continues. The things that affect the melody are invisible, but they give it the energy to continue. There are times of calm when we just float in the atmosphere, observing the motion on the ground below, so distant from it, but then we’re caught in a cloud, caught in a breeze, caught in a growing motion that adds excitement to our trip.
Are we in a glider?
In a Glider (SOSA Gliding Club)
Or are we a bird?
Great Frigatebird (photo by Henri Weimerskirch)
The triumphal ending tells us we’ve successfully landed!
Mark Edwards Wilson: Dangerous Journeys – III. Soaring (London Symphony Orchestra; Robert Ziegler, cond.)
In his works, Wilson cloaks his dramatic narrative in fine orchestral garb. The individual sounds of the instruments create his world: the motion of the water in the string section, with danger points in the brass. The song of the nightingale in the woodwinds, with pizzicato strings accentuating the dripping and collapsing world that surrounds it. We soar on wings of strings, surged on by the percussion section.
Go on a Dangerous Journey with an orchestral guide: armchair travelling at its best!
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