Naxos Blog

Naxos releases a new volume of works by composer Aaron Copland on its American Classics series. Featuring the Chicago-based Elgin Symphony Orchestra under composer and conductor Robert Hanson, the recording includes Copland’s The Tender Land (Suite); his beloved Old American Songs and his Piano Concerto, with pianist Benjamin Pasternack.

The Tender Land Suite (1958) is a three movement extraction of pivotal moments from Copland’s opera of the same name. The opera is sampled in reverse order for the Suite with the 3rd movement ending with an adaptation of the quintet “The Promise of Living” from Act I of The Tender Land.

One of Copland’s early works, the Piano Concerto (1926) is considered to be one of the most jazz-influenced pieces in the Copland repertoire. Copland commented that his goal when writing the two movement Concerto was “to explore new avenues of polyrhythms” which made for bold music in this time period.

Copland composed two sets of Old American Songs (10 songs in all) for voice and piano between1950-52. The transcription found on this recording for voice, orchestra and choir are rarely recorded and are expertly performed by frequent Elgin collaborator, St. Charles Singers, and soloists Nathaniel Stampley and Jeffrey Hunt.

Led by composer and conductor Robert Hanson for the last 23 years, the ESO is the fastest growing ensemble of it’s kind in the U.S. Founded and deeply rooted in Chicago’s Classical music community, the ESO has been named “Orchestra of the Year” by the Illinois Council of Orchestras three times under the baton of Hanson. “The Naxos recording is a wonderful coup for the Elgin Symphony Orchestra. While our reputation has been regional for the past 10 years, this recording gives us a presence nationally and in the music world-at-large”, commented Maestro Hanson. This Copland recording is part of the ESO’s commendable initiative to trace American themes in Classical music from the nineteenth century to the present.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 29th, 2008 at 12:51 am and is filed under New Releases. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.