Dvořák & America

Dvořák & America cover $25.00 Out of Stock
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HOROWITZ / DVORAK / FARWELL / FISHER
Dvořák & America
Kevin Deas (narrator), Zhou Qian (violin) Edmund Battersby (piano) Benjamin Pasternack (piano) Kevin Deas (bass-baritone) / PostClassical Ensemble

[ Naxos / CD ]

Release Date: Sunday 20 July 2014

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The centre piece of this programme is the first ever recording of the Hiawatha Melodrama, a concert work for narrator and orchestra designed to show the kinship between Dvořák's New World Symphony and Longfellow's poem 'The Song of Hiawatha', which Dvořák said had inspired him in the symphony. It takes music from the symphony, as well as passages from the American Suite and Violin Sonatina, and fuses them with the poem, which is recited by a bass-baritone.

Also included is music by Arthur Farwell, who was influenced by Dvořák, and was a proponent of Native American music.

This recording thus celebrates the crosscurrent of influences between the Czech composer and American music and culture.

"This is one of those rare "concept albums" where the concept actually works. It offers a truly fresh and interesting perspective on Dvorák's American period, while still assembling a program that makes for enjoyable listening on its own. Few of us bother to read Longfellow's poem anymore, but hearing it wedded to Dvorák's music really does create a powerful and, somehow, nostalgic atmosphere of perhaps a more innocent age. I found it quite moving, and the rest of the performances very enjoyable." (ClassicsToday)

Tracks:

Hiawatha Melodrama
Joseph Horowitz (b. 1948) & Michael Beckerman (b. 1951)

Dvorak:
American Suite in A major, Op. 98a(b)
Humoresque in F major, Op. 101 No. 4
Humoresque in G flat major, Op. 101 No. 7
World Première Recording
Sonatina for violin and piano in G major, Op. 100: Larghetto

Farwell:
Pawnee Horses (No. 2 from Mesa and Plain, Op. 20)
Pawnee Horses (No. 2 from Mesa and Plain, Op. 20)
choral version. World Première Recording
Navajo War Dance No. 2

Fisher, W A:
Goin' Home
song based on Largo from Dvorak's 'New World Symphony'