Leroy Anderson - Orchestral Works Volume 4 - Naxos: 8559381 - CD or download

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On Volume 4 of this Naxos series, only the delightful Summer Skies falls into the familiar format of Anderson orchestral miniature. The rest constitutes arrangements, including Anderson's exquisitely... — Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 More…

Release Date: 1st Sep 2008
Catalogue No: 8559381
Label: Naxos
Series: American Classics
Length: 60 minutes

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Anderson, Leroy: Irish Suite

Work length19:35

$6.00

$7.80

BBC Concert Orchestra
Leonard Slatkin

I. The Irish Washerwoman

Track length2:58

$1.00

$1.30

II. The Minstrel Boy

Track length3:27

$1.00

$1.30

III. The Rakes of Mallow

Track length2:56

$1.00

$1.30

IV. The Wearing of the Green

Track length3:21

$1.00

$1.30

V. The Last Rose of Summer

Track length3:44

$1.00

$1.30

VI. The Girl I Left Behind Me

Track length3:09

$1.00

$1.30

MacDowell: To a Wild Rose (Arr. L. Anderson for orchestra)

Work length2:12

$1.00

$1.30

BBC Concert Orchestra
Leonard Slatkin

Anderson, Leroy: Summer Skies

Work length3:53

$1.00

$1.30

BBC Concert Orchestra
Leonard Slatkin

Anderson, Leroy: Scottish Suite

Work length10:23

$4.00

$5.20

BBC Concert Orchestra
Leonard Slatkin

I. Bonnie Dundee

Track length2:46

$1.00

$1.30

II. Turn Ye to Me

Track length2:19

$1.00

$1.30

III. The Bluebells of Scotland

Track length2:05

$1.00

$1.30

IV. The Campbells Are Coming

Track length3:13

$1.00

$1.30

Anderson, Leroy: Blue Tango (Version with voice)

Work length2:36

$1.00

$1.30

Kim Criswell
BBC Concert Orchestra
Leonard Slatkin

Anderson, Leroy: Forgotten Dreams (Arr. R. Wendel for voice and orchestra)

Work length2:49

$1.00

$1.30

Kim Criswell
BBC Concert Orchestra
Leonard Slatkin

Anderson, Leroy: Belle of the Ball (Version with voice)

Work length3:13

$1.00

$1.30

Kim Criswell, William Dazeley
BBC Concert Orchestra
Leonard Slatkin

Anderson, Leroy: Alma Mater

Work length6:26

$4.00

$5.20

BBC Concert Orchestra
Leonard Slatkin

I. Chapel Bells

Track length1:27

$1.00

$1.30

II. Freshman on Main Street

Track length1:26

$1.00

$1.30

III. Library Reading Room

Track length1:48

$1.00

$1.30

IV. Class Reunion

Track length1:45

$1.00

$1.30

Anderson, Leroy: A Christmas Festival

Work length9:06

$2.00

$2.60

BBC Concert Orchestra
Leonard Slatkin

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About

Leroy Anderson etched out his own unique place in American music – a composer rigorously trained in the classical tradition whose records topped the pop charts, a meticulous arranger of music whose own melodies were crafted with inventive precision.

Here, in the first complete cycle of Anderson’s orchestral music, the Anderson family has made available several pieces that the composer did not release, with some first recordings scattered among the familiar and not-sofamiliar titles. Volume Four concentrates on Anderson’s many arrangements, as well as revisions or alternate versions of his own works, including Alma Mater, a reworking of his 1939 suite Harvard Sketches.

Reviews

2010

On Volume 4 of this Naxos series, only the delightful Summer Skies falls into the familiar format of Anderson orchestral miniature. The rest constitutes arrangements, including Anderson's exquisitely wrought orchestration of MacDowell's To a Wild Rose. If the inclusion of vocal arrangements of Blue Tango, ForgottenDreams and Belle of the Ball in a collection of orchestral works seems strange, few will object to the chance to hear Tin Pan Alley's attempts to capitalise on Anderson's successes.
The Irish Suite (the main item on this disc) – a clever compilation of Irish folk tunes – has already been recorded by Fiedler, Anderson himself (four movements only) and Fennell, and is done here with no less grace, charm and excitement. On the back of its success, Anderson conceived his Scottish Suite, but he completed only four of the planned six movements, recorded only two, and then withdrew the suite altogether. Though overall nowhere near as clever a piece as its predecessor, it's good to have the whole included here; 'Turn ye to me' is especially beautifully done.
Previous volumes in this series have included suites of carols; however, the arrangement of less devotional melodies within the Christmas overture heard here seems to me much the most attractive of such seasonal offerings.
Another of Anderson's Christmas selections (this time for woodwind) appears on Volume 5, a CD that's otherwise given over wholly to music from the only Anderson theatre score ever to reach Broadway. We have here a good proportion of Goldilocks (a misleading title, for the show is about a quarrelling actress and a millionaire who eventually acknowledge their love), though it's by no means as comprehensive as the original Broadway cast version. It's not made clear why – in a less than overfilled CD – the selection is so restricted. In fact, it's less a representation of the show per se than a concert suite – an ad hoc compilation of show extracts and Anderson's own concert arrangements.
Thus it offers something different for those who know the show as much as for those who don't.
Kim Criswell and William Dazeley do the vocal items justice, and as ever Leonard Slatkin and the BBC Concert Orchestra provide performances full of panache which are absolutely in the authentic Anderson orchestral style.
Those who have followed the series so far will find these successors no less superbly performed, recorded and annotated.

December 2008

The Irish Suite (the main item on this disc) - a clever compilation of Irish folk tunes… is done here with… grace, charm and excitement.

Leroy Anderson - Orchestral Works Volume 4

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