Search - American Festival :: American Festival - Bernstein: Candide Overture / William Schuman: Newsreel for orchestra / Ives: The Unanswered Question (I & II), for trumpet, winds & string orchestra, S. 50 (K. 1C25); The Circus Band (song) / Ruggieri: If . . . Then (for orchestra) /

Good collection

Feller who likes Old Yeller | Webster, NY | 02/20/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a well-performed collection of short orchestral pieces by American Composers. Highlights on the CD are the lesser-performed works such as William Schuman's "Newsreel in Five Shots", Roger Ruggeri's "If...Then", and Henry Cowell's "Saturday Night at the Firehouse." It would be great to hear some orchestras pay some of these neglected pieces more often.This is a fine recording, a good collection, and a lot of fun. The one thing that disappointed me was that Copland's "Variations on a Shaker Melody" was extracted from "Appalachian Spring" for this collection. It is more effective in context of the whole piece. Maybe a better choice would have been something short and self-contained,like "Quiet City."Definitely a worthy disc for your collection."

A good collection of American music

Michael Dyckman | West Orange, NJ USA | 06/23/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Lukas Foss and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra perform a number of well-known American music, such as Bernstein's Candide Overture and Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man. But it also includes some rarer pieces, like Cowell's Saturday Night at the Firehouse, and Ives' Circus Band March."