What defines America? Pianist Lara Downes has a musical answer in her smartly programmed, wide-ranging anthology of solo piano works by American composers past and present; male and female; straight and gay; rich and poor; white, black and Latino.
The album's title is taken from "Let America Be America Again," a poem by Langston Hughes. Like Hughes, Downes embraces a distinctively American brand of hope.
You can hear it in familiar chestnuts like Downes' clear-eyed rendition of "Over The Rainbow," or the inherently yearning "Shenandoah." But there are more confident aspirations to be found in lesser-known music. Morton Gould's American Caprice sports whimsical, syncopated rhythms,Read more and Amy Beach's sparkling From Blackbird Hills dances to the beat of an American Indian song. Sueño Recurrente (Recurring Dream), by Puerto Rican-born composer Angélica Negrón, sways like a lullaby, while Art Tatum's teeming arrangement of Irving Berlin's "Blue Skies" swings with cocksure virtuosity.
It's satisfying to see the undervalued Florence Price represented as well. Her Fantasie Negre combines virtuoso techniques with the aching lyricism of a spiritual.
There are also strong pieces by famous composers like Copland, Bernstein and Ellington, but they're not the usual suspects. Downes' keen music choices and her thoughtful performances evoke a brilliantly curated art exhibit. – NPR (Tom Huizenga) Read less
Works on This Recording
1.
American Caprice, for orchestraby Morton Gould Performer:
Lara Downes (Piano)
Period: Modern Venue: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia Length: 5 Minutes 3 Secs.
2.
Waltzes (3)by Lou Harrison Performer:
Lara Downes (Piano)
Period: 20th Century Written: USA Venue: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia Length: 3 Minutes 13 Secs.
3.
Shenandoahby Traditional Performer:
Lara Downes (Piano)
Written: USA Venue: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia Length: 3 Minutes 57 Secs.
4.
From Blackbird Hills, Op. 83by Amy Marcy Beach Performer:
Lara Downes (Piano)
Period: 20th Century Written: by 1922 Venue: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia Length: 3 Minutes 50 Secs.
5.
Negro Melodies (24), Op. 59 no 1: no 10, Deep riverby Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Performer:
Lara Downes (Piano)
Period: Romantic Written: by 1905; England Venue: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia Length: 5 Minutes 16 Secs.
6.
Lonesome Roads: Nocturneby Dan Visconti Performer:
Lara Downes (Piano)
Period: Contemporary Written: 2012 Venue: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia Length: 1 Minutes 51 Secs.
7.
Poems of the Seaby Ernest Bloch Performer:
Lara Downes (Piano)
Period: 20th Century Written: 1922; USA Venue: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia Length: 4 Minutes 19 Secs.
8.
Porgy & Bess: I Love You, Porgyby George Gershwin Performer:
Lara Downes (Piano)
Period: Modern Written: 1935; United States of Ame Venue: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia Length: 4 Minutes 19 Secs.
9.
Sueno Recurrente, for pianoby Angelica Negron Performer:
Lara Downes (Piano)
Period: Contemporary Written: 2002 Venue: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia Length: 2 Minutes 46 Secs.
10.
Anniversaries: for Stephen Sondheimby Leonard Bernstein Performer:
Lara Downes (Piano)
Period: Modern Written: 1988 Venue: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia Length: 1 Minutes 22 Secs.
11.
Promise, for pianoby David Sanford Performer:
Lara Downes (Piano)
Period: Contemporary Written: 2009 Venue: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia Length: 2 Minutes 40 Secs.
12.
Slumber Songby Howard Hanson Performer:
Lara Downes (Piano)
Period: 20th Century Written: USA Venue: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia Length: 2 Minutes 34 Secs.
13.
Gladiolus Ragby Scott Joplin Performer:
Lara Downes (Piano)
Period: 20th Century Written: 1907; USA Venue: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia Length: 3 Minutes 43 Secs.
14.
Blue Skies, film scoreby Irving Berlin Performer:
Lara Downes (Piano)
Period: Modern Venue: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia Length: 3 Minutes 23 Secs.
15.
Deserted Gardenby Florence Beatrice Price Performer:
Lara Downes (Piano)
Period: 20th Century Written: United States Venue: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia Length: 7 Minutes 9 Secs.
16.
Sentimental Melodyby Aaron Copland Performer:
Lara Downes (Piano)
Period: 20th Century Written: 1926; USA Venue: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia Length: 1 Minutes 35 Secs.
17.
Melancholia, for pianoby Edward "Duke" Ellington Performer:
Lara Downes (Piano)
Period: Modern Written: 1953 Venue: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia Length: 3 Minutes 1 Secs.
18.
Li'l Boy Named David, for pianoby Roy Harris Performer:
Lara Downes (Piano)
Period: Modern Written: circa 1946 Venue: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia Length: 3 Minutes 16 Secs.
19.
Wizard of Oz: Over the Rainbowby Harold Arlen Performer:
Lara Downes (Piano)
Period: 20th Century Venue: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia Length: 3 Minutes 2 Secs.
