Composer Kenneth Fuchs is nearing the age of 50 as Naxos American Classics series issues the first all-Fuchs disc that is all orchestral music as well. The key work here is An American Place, a movement lasting a little less than 20 minutes that Fuchs describes as "reflect(ing) the palette of musical sounds that developed in the United States in the last hundred years." The obvious reference point here is Copland with a dash of Hollywood scoring here, a pinch of Stravinsky and the employment of some minimalistic ostinati ...
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Composer Kenneth Fuchs is nearing the age of 50 as Naxos American Classics series issues the first all-Fuchs disc that is all orchestral music as well. The key work here is An American Place, a movement lasting a little less than 20 minutes that Fuchs describes as "reflect(ing) the palette of musical sounds that developed in the United States in the last hundred years." The obvious reference point here is Copland with a dash of Hollywood scoring here, a pinch of Stravinsky and the employment of some minimalistic ostinati without going into full-bore minimalism itself. Apart from itemizing the influences that go into this work, An American Place is a very listener-friendly piece that would keep an average symphony audience quiet and attentive, rather than restless and bored, which is what symphony patrons dread the most about contemporary compositions. It is a fine piece of music as long as one doesn't get hung up on how much some of it sounds like Copland, and whether the "open"-sounding chords in...
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