AN All American Program Of Pioneering Works
Paying tribute to the pioneering spirit of New York's mid-20th century classical composers, the American Symphony Orchestra, its music director/conductor extraordinaire Leon Botstein and guest pianist Charlie Albright present an all American program of works by Juilliard String Quartet founder Robert Mann, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Jacob Druckman and gifted innovator William Schuman, all musos of exceptional skill, talent and vision for a new musical future.
Mann's Fantasy for Orchestra kicks things off with Mann's Fantasy for Orchestra, a single movement piece written in 1957. Comprised of a reflective, slow-burning introduction, a pace-quickening middle section and a rapid, rousing conclusion, its a cinematic and moody piece praised for its rhythmic devices and stirring soundscapes. This is followed by Druckman's Prism, a sonic exploration that both reminisces (with direct references to Luciano Berio's Sinfonia) and innovates with surprising juxtapositions, unexpected effects and timbral experimentation. The program comes to a close with Schuman's Symphony No. 3, a captivating Brahmsian flight that fuses the baroque and the modern with aplomb.