New Worlds
3/30/2010 • 15 tracks • 58 minutes
CHARLES IVES (1874-1954)
1. The Unanswered Question 5:42
GABRIELA LENA FRANK (b. 1972)
Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout
2. II. Tarqueda 3:10
3. III. Himo de Zamponas 3:06
4. VI. Coquetos 3:24
ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK (1841-1904)
5. Silent Woods (Klid) 6:12
Jan Vogler, cello
OSVALDO GOLIJOV (b. 1960)
Last Round
6. I. Movido, Urgente - Macho, Cool and Dangerous 5:49
7. II. Lentisimo - Death of Angels 6:05
AARON COPLAND (1900-1990)
Appalachian Spring
8. I. Very slowly 2:43
9. II. Fast 2:55
10. III. Moderato 3:38
11. IV. Fast 3:31
12. V. Still Faster 4:01
13. VI. As at first (Slowly) 1:08
14. VII. Calm and flowing 3:14
15. VIII. Coda 3:48
℗ 2010 Sony Music Entertainment Germany GmbH
After opening the 2008 Dresdner Musikfestpiele to critical acclaim, The Knights, New York’s adventurous contemporary orchestra, are released New Worlds, their second album for the Sony Classical label. New Worlds, which was co-produced by the Musikfestpiele, takes listeners on a journey through iconic masterworks of the Americas such as Charles Ives’ Unanswered Question and Copland’s Appalachian Spring alongside music by celebrated living composers Osvaldo Golijov and Gabriela Lena Frank. Internationally renowned cellist Jan Vogler is the soloist on Dvořák’s Silent Woods, continuing a collaboration that began with Jan Vogler and The Knights Experience: Live From New York.
From the opening notes of Charles Ives’ suspended, cosmic chorale asking the “perennial question of existence,” The Knights' unique blend of sound is clear as they traverse different types of music: in Leyandas: An Andean Walkabout by Latin GRAMMY Award-winning composer Gabriela Lena Frank, The Knights' distinctive sound transforms into imaginative evocations of native Peruvian instruments. Antonin Dvořák’s peaceful meditation for solo cello and orchestra, Silent Woods, is a nostalgic arrangement of an earlier piano piece that the composer made during his sojourn in the New World. Osvaldo Golijov’s Last Round is the Argentinian-born composer’s homage to his fellow countryman, the great tango composer Astor Piazzolla. Here, The Knights emulate the accordion-like sound and spirit of the Argentinian bandoneon. Concluding the album is Copland’s Appalachian Spring, recorded under the baton of “interpretive dynamo” Eric Jacobsen (The New York Times). This fresh performance of a beloved classic highlights the work’s beautiful chorale harmonies and rhythmic folk underpinnings.