Music of the Americas

Description

Having demonstrated their musical excellence with three well-received recordings on PENTATONE of orchestral works of Antonin Dvorak, Houston Symphony and Andres Orozco-Estrada now present an album that comes closer to their cultural roots than ever before. Dance rhythms, jazzy harmonies, bright colors, city sounds; everything one associates with The Americas can be heard on this recording. With George Gershwins 1928 piece An American in Paris, Silvestre Revueltass Sensemaya (1938), Leonard Bernsteins Symphonic Dances from West Side Story (1961) and Astor Piazzollas Tangazo (1970), it brings together composers from across the twentieth century, all connected by their belonging to the Americas. Moreover, all of these composers reconfigured the barriers between classical and popular music, combining them to produce a sound that illustrates their home region. In choosing these particular works, Houston Symphony and Andres Orozco-Estrada have aimed not to cover the entire continent but rather to provide impressions of America and to illuminate as many colors in the music as possible.