Britain's Oliver Davis is a soundtrack composer who has turned to freestanding orchestral and chamber music with great success, issuing groups of them in album form. Air is the album title, not that of a single composition, but the contents here are mostly multi-movement pieces. This music is purely tonal and reflects Davis' cinematic background in its convincing programmatic references. The four trees represented by the four movements of Arboretum, for example, might even be guessed, or nearly guessed, by a listener who ...
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Britain's Oliver Davis is a soundtrack composer who has turned to freestanding orchestral and chamber music with great success, issuing groups of them in album form. Air is the album title, not that of a single composition, but the contents here are mostly multi-movement pieces. This music is purely tonal and reflects Davis' cinematic background in its convincing programmatic references. The four trees represented by the four movements of Arboretum, for example, might even be guessed, or nearly guessed, by a listener who did not know the titles. Unlike with so many crossover releases, the music here is varied, with something new appearing in each work; it is not meant as background music. Davis features various instrumental ensembles and includes his frequent violin collaborator Kerenza Peacock, but there are novelties here, including the German chamber group the Hanke Brothers on the opening 2 Pieces for 4 Brothers. There are also two vocal works, one featuring the ambient voice of soprano Grace...
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