In 1944 composer and conductor Nat Shilkret asked six famous composers based in Hollywood to collaborate on Genesis Suite, an anthology of pieces for chorus and orchestra illustrating narrated portions of the Book of Genesis. Premiered November 18, 1945, in Los Angeles, the Genesis Suite was also recorded shortly after, fortunately for posterity's sake as the full score was later consumed in a fire. This disc in Naxos' Milken Archive American Jewish Music series attempts to recover this ambitious program, utilizing ...
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In 1944 composer and conductor Nat Shilkret asked six famous composers based in Hollywood to collaborate on Genesis Suite, an anthology of pieces for chorus and orchestra illustrating narrated portions of the Book of Genesis. Premiered November 18, 1945, in Los Angeles, the Genesis Suite was also recorded shortly after, fortunately for posterity's sake as the full score was later consumed in a fire. This disc in Naxos' Milken Archive American Jewish Music series attempts to recover this ambitious program, utilizing surviving score material combined with transcriptions from the recordings made by Patrick Russ. Conductor Gerard Schwarz leads the Berliner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester, Sigurd Brauns directs the Ernst Senff Choir, and a star-studded lineup, including actresses Barbara Feldon and Tovah Feldshuh, handle the narration. Everyone does a fine job with this piece, particularly in Schoenberg's difficult Prelude.As a whole, the Genesis Suite is not the sum of its best parts. Shilkret insisted that...
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