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Naxos to Release William Schuman’s Symphonies
Nos.
4 and 9 with Gerald Schwarz and Seattle Symphony
New Disc is Important Addition to Naxos’ American Classics Series
On May 17th, Naxos of America will release William Schuman’s
Symphonies Nos. 4 and 9, Orchestra Song, and Circus Overture
featuring the Seattle Symphony and Music Director Gerard Schwarz.
This new CD is a key addition to the acclaimed Naxos American Classics
series, an ambitious project of American concert music currently numbering
more than 150 titles.
Naxos has previously released Schuman’s Violin Concerto and New
England Triptych (8559083) performed by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
with José Serebrier and violinist Philip Quint.
New York native William Schuman (1910-1992) juggled many careers
in his full and productive life—teacher, administrator, conductor
and composer. Though nearly four decades separate his Fourth and Ninth
Symphonies, they both convey a range of emotions shaped by the experience
of World War II. The lighter Circus Overture and Orchestra Song serve
to demonstrate the breadth of Schuman’s orchestral language.
“During the 20th century, the symphonic tradition experienced a
great re-awakening in America,” commented Schwarz. “William
Schuman, a personal friend of mine, helped develop a new symphonic style
that infused traditional European classical models with a new musical
vocabulary drawn from a broad spectrum of American sources.”
The Seattle Symphony’s past recordings on Naxos’ American Classics
series include music by David Diamond, Alan Hovhaness, Walter Piston,
Paul Creston, and Henri Lazarof. The Orchestra also has a number of discs
on the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music series.
This recording is the first Seattle Symphony CD to be recorded entirely
in the Orchestra’s acoustically acclaimed home, Benaroya Hall, and
its release coincides with the Seattle Symphony’s Made in America
Festival (May 6-26), a celebration of composers, including Schuman,
who helped to create a distinctly American “sound.”
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WILLIAM SCHUMAN: Symphonies Nos. 4 and 9; Orchestra
Song, Circus Overture
Gerard Schwarz, Seattle Symphony
8.559254
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