American Classics series

This selection of chamber music by Samuel Barber (1910-1981) contains some of his most notable compositions. The youthful Cello Sonata of 1932; Excursions for piano from 1942-44 and the charming Summer Music for wind quintet, written in 1956, amply illustrate Barber's propensity to lyricism, making this a most appealing disc.

Considering that Ives lived to be 80 years old the period during which he was most active as one of the most innovative of American composers was remarkably short. His earliest works date from the mid-1890s and by 1930 he was virtually silent.

This late inactivity was possibly engendered by the fact that his works were largely ignored during his lifetime and it wasn't until the mid-1960s that his music gained any kind of recognition. By then he had been dead for ten years.

This is the second Ives disc in this series and the programme here comprises some of Ives's instrumental and vocal music.

These days the Overture to Bernstein's comic opera Candide requires little introduction as it has, within the past few years, taken on a degree of popularity to rival that of the suite from Bernstein's West Side Story.

Leonard Bernstein's Second Symphony of 1949 was inspired by W.H. Auden's poem The Age of Anxiety, published in 1947. The poem seemed perfectly to capture the mood of the 1940s. The story is of a group of lonely souls sitting in a bar at night pondering the human condition. Edward Hopper's famous 1942 painting Nighthawks explores a similar theme.

Bernstein's 1944 ballet, Fancy Free, finds the composer in a much more characteristically up-beat mood with a story of three sailors having a good time on shore leave in New York.

John Cage (1912-1992) was one of the most controversial composers of the 20th century. He is best known for his 1952 work 4'33" which involves not a single note of music being played.

This selection of Cage's music provides a rare opportunity to get to know a range of works that were written between the years 1939-65, which were some of the composer's most productive years.

Credo in Us is a ballet score written for Cage's long-time partner and collaborator the choreographer and dancer, Merce Cunningham.

Imaginary Landscape is scored for four performers who play a muted piano and cymbal as well as two variable-speed phonographs with amplifiers, Imaginary Landscape No.1 is important for being one of the first examples of electro-acoustic music.

Cage's Concert for Piano and Orchestra has no overall score, but all the parts are written out in detail. A performance of the Concert may include all of the instruments, but may also be performed as a solo, duet, trio or any combination of the given instruments, resulting in a change of title (e.g. solo for piano or Concert for piano, voice and 2 violins, in case it is combined with a Solo for Voice.) In this recording two solo voices are used.

The Suite for Toy Piano is one of Cage's works for prepared piano and the Music for Carillon bring this collection to a fascinating conclusion.

The earliest music in this release of American Classics is from Stephen Foster (1826-1864), whose songs were immensely popular during his lifetime, and still are today, almost 150 years after his death.

Charles Tomlinson Griffes (1884-1920) came to prominence during the early years of the 20th century as a follower of the French Impressionists and he is best known for his impressionistic orchestral works: The White Peacock, The Pleasure Dome of Kubla Khan and the Poème for flute and orchestra. Here we have an opportunity to hear some of Griffes songs sung by Deborah Voigt.

With the Eight Poems of Emily Dickinson we have a marriage of music by one of the greatest American composers with the words of one of their greatest poets. The poetry of the reclusive Dickinson is elusive and not easily understood. A good way into understanding her poetry is listen to Copland's wonderful settings.