Bernstein, Barber, Crawford & Ives: Americans

Featuring

James Gaffigan
Paul Jacobs
Luzerner Sinfonieorchester
Leonard Bernstein
Charles Ives
Samuel Barber

Ruth Crawford Seeger

Did you know?

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Critical Reception

Charles Ives' music was not immediately welcomed and was barely known, despite his strong musical background.

Composer's Artistic Vision

American music is described as a "melting pot pluralism" and "famously open" by composer John Adams, reflecting a blend of individual and national characteristics.

Compositional Technique

Ruth Crawford's String Quartet, particularly its third movement, features a "heterophony of dynamics" where the melodic line is created by continuous crescendos and diminuendos across different instruments.

Composer Biography

Ruth Crawford (Seeger) was the first female composer to receive a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Composition History

Leonard Bernstein's Symphonic Dances from West Side Story were arranged by the composer in 1960 from his 1957 musical for full orchestra, with a dedication to Sid Ramin, one of the original orchestrators.

Composition History

Samuel Barber's Toccata Festiva for organ and orchestra was commissioned for the inauguration of a new organ at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia in 1960.