WINGS

Two young men, one rich, the other middle class, are in love with the same woman. However, their priorities change soon enough: with the outbreak of the First World War, they both decide to sign up with the US Airforce. Wings (1927) combines a romantic plot with impressive images of air battles from WWI. The movie (by William A. Wellman) won the very first Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Special Effects! Wings was made in 1928 and contains, not only because of its age but also because of the medium of the silent movie itself, scenes that may appear corny or even pathetic to today’s viewers. Here the music is an ingredient of great importance as it can add rhythm and can even influence the meaning of the sequence.
Eric Sleichim created an electronic score for Wings but interlaced it with fragments and quotations from 20th century repertoire for percussion: Xenakis, Stockhausen, Reich, Cage, Scelsi, Billone, Tenney, Takemitsu, Wolfe, Andriessen… BL!NDMAN [drums] and Eric Sleichim perform with an extensive battery of percussion instruments and electronics.