In the liner notes of Stradivarius' From the New World, Vol. 1, painter Paul Klee is cited as having said he wished he could return to being a newborn baby once more so that he could forget about Europe. "Forgetting about Europe" seems to be the theme of From the New World, Vol. 1, which at first glance appears to be a compilation, but is a condensation of recordings made at three annual festivals held at Macerata, Italy, by the Rassegna di Nuova Musica di Macerata. These events were all exclusively devoted to the work of ...
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In the liner notes of Stradivarius' From the New World, Vol. 1, painter Paul Klee is cited as having said he wished he could return to being a newborn baby once more so that he could forget about Europe. "Forgetting about Europe" seems to be the theme of From the New World, Vol. 1, which at first glance appears to be a compilation, but is a condensation of recordings made at three annual festivals held at Macerata, Italy, by the Rassegna di Nuova Musica di Macerata. These events were all exclusively devoted to the work of American composers, although the performers are mostly Italian. Although by nature of what it is, this cannot help but be a mixed bag, From the New World, Vol. 1, does provide a tantalizing glimpse of what American music means to Europeans, with its examples of wide-ranging experimentalism and the unstated, but palpable notions of "freedom."The recordings are all live from the festival and the sound is not great overall, being a tad quiet and distant, although thankfully there is no...
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