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'Daugherty obviously knows how to handle large orchestral forces. Marin Alsop and her Colorado orchestra respond with vivid and committed playing. --Music Web International
Never underestimate the ready-for -anything skills of British Orchestras! The BSO plays with a headlong flair and expertise that any American orchestra would rightly be proud of. **** --Classic fm Magazine,Apr'11
A high-octane road trip along America's best-known highway. --Gramophone.Apr'11
Michael Daugherty is the orchestral chronicler of American culture. In works such as Route 66 and Sunset Strip he paints the hopes and dreams embodied in Interstate highways, wide-open spaces and all-night bars where Frank Sinatra crooned. These are winning and affectionate. *** --Daily Telegraph,12/03/11
A high-octane road trip along America's best-known highway. --Gramophone.Apr'11
Marin Alsop does this kind of repertoire well and, aided by her two colleagues in Time Machine,produces readings with the kind of in-your-face vigour that the music needs.The recording is both meaty and detailed. --IRR,Apr'11
A high-octane road trip along America's best-known highway. --Gramophone.Apr'11
These confident,loose-limbed performances demonstrate how she(Marin Alsop) succeeded during that time in turning Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra into just about the best American orchestra in Europe. Performance **** Recording **** --BBC Music Magazine,August'11
A high-octane road trip along America's best-known highway. --Gramophone.Apr'11
Never underestimate the ready-for -anything skills of British Orchestras! The BSO plays with a headlong flair and expertise that any American orchestra would rightly be proud of. **** --Classic fm Magazine,Apr'11
A high-octane road trip along America's best-known highway. --Gramophone.Apr'11
Michael Daugherty is the orchestral chronicler of American culture. In works such as Route 66 and Sunset Strip he paints the hopes and dreams embodied in Interstate highways, wide-open spaces and all-night bars where Frank Sinatra crooned. These are winning and affectionate. *** --Daily Telegraph,12/03/11
A high-octane road trip along America's best-known highway. --Gramophone.Apr'11
Marin Alsop does this kind of repertoire well and, aided by her two colleagues in Time Machine,produces readings with the kind of in-your-face vigour that the music needs.The recording is both meaty and detailed. --IRR,Apr'11
A high-octane road trip along America's best-known highway. --Gramophone.Apr'11
These confident,loose-limbed performances demonstrate how she(Marin Alsop) succeeded during that time in turning Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra into just about the best American orchestra in Europe. Performance **** Recording **** --BBC Music Magazine,August'11
A high-octane road trip along America's best-known highway. --Gramophone.Apr'11
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
In my review of his Violin Concerto, "Fire and Blood", I suggested that Michael Daugherty was capable of writing serious and substantial music. This disc doesn't quite prove the point but it is an impressive recording with very fine performances. The trumpets in Sunset Strip as well as the woodwind really impress and the horns in "Ghost Ranch" are more than a match for the huge technical demands laid before them.
As for the works themselves they are a bit of a mixed bag. "Route 66" is a snappy title but it relies a little too heavily on its opening riff. It reminds me of John Adams' "Lollapalooza". It sounds like a natural concert opener.
"Ghost Ranch" is a more serious work in three movements that try to capture the spirit of Georgia O'Keeffe's paintings and her home of that name. The imagery in the first movement "Bones" is all a bit to obvious but the central movement provides more depth: The horn parts lead to an impressive conclusion to the movement. There is more than a hint in the horn writing of Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings; furthermore, that sounds intended. If you're familiar with his "Metropolis Symphony" you'll hear there a shameless repeated copy of a section in Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem. Britten might not seem like the obvious reference source to a composer who revels in American popular culture but these links are as clear as day.
The finale, "Rattle Snake", has plenty of pensive nervous energy. Taken together these three pieces are quite impressive, if a little cinematic at times and they're no substitute for seeing the paintings themselves.
"Sunset Strip" is a slighter work on the face of it but excellent for all that. It's full of sleaze with some impressive writing for trumpet soloists and clarinets. The three movements depict 7pm, nocturne and 7am on Sunset Boulevard. The nocturne is particularly sexy and sleazy but all too brief. Perhaps this should have been the longest movement because it is the heart of the piece: More lightweight maybe than "Ghost Ranch" but very effective all the same.
"Time machine", on the other hand, is a disappointment. It aims to be a very serious work, employing three orchestras. Visually this might work very well but on disc it's difficult to see the point of the work. Its two movements "past" and "present" don't offer any lasting message or clear purpose though it does return to the opening music quite well towards the end.
Like "Bones" from "Ghost Ranch", "Time Machine" begins with ticking wood blocks to give s sense of time before moving into an archaic sounding melody. The mod of this "past" movement is quite subdued, perhaps mysterious. The "Future" movement has less obvious points of reference melodically but returns to the opening music towards the end. For "future" this movement hardly sounds avant garde or new and doesn't offer that much contrast to the opening movement - a bit more animated perhaps, but that is about it. This is the most abstract work on the disc and Michael Daugherty's attempts to explain its message in the cd notes doesn't really add much enlightenment to the "programme" behind it.
It being a mixed bag; I've knocked a star off but the recording and playing is terrific and there's certainly nothing to scare a nervous listener. The reflections on American culture are no reason to be sniffy - the lighter works are the most effective ones on this disc: this is mostly extrovert music that's fun to listen to. At this price it's still warmly recommended overall.
As for the works themselves they are a bit of a mixed bag. "Route 66" is a snappy title but it relies a little too heavily on its opening riff. It reminds me of John Adams' "Lollapalooza". It sounds like a natural concert opener.
"Ghost Ranch" is a more serious work in three movements that try to capture the spirit of Georgia O'Keeffe's paintings and her home of that name. The imagery in the first movement "Bones" is all a bit to obvious but the central movement provides more depth: The horn parts lead to an impressive conclusion to the movement. There is more than a hint in the horn writing of Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings; furthermore, that sounds intended. If you're familiar with his "Metropolis Symphony" you'll hear there a shameless repeated copy of a section in Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem. Britten might not seem like the obvious reference source to a composer who revels in American popular culture but these links are as clear as day.
The finale, "Rattle Snake", has plenty of pensive nervous energy. Taken together these three pieces are quite impressive, if a little cinematic at times and they're no substitute for seeing the paintings themselves.
"Sunset Strip" is a slighter work on the face of it but excellent for all that. It's full of sleaze with some impressive writing for trumpet soloists and clarinets. The three movements depict 7pm, nocturne and 7am on Sunset Boulevard. The nocturne is particularly sexy and sleazy but all too brief. Perhaps this should have been the longest movement because it is the heart of the piece: More lightweight maybe than "Ghost Ranch" but very effective all the same.
"Time machine", on the other hand, is a disappointment. It aims to be a very serious work, employing three orchestras. Visually this might work very well but on disc it's difficult to see the point of the work. Its two movements "past" and "present" don't offer any lasting message or clear purpose though it does return to the opening music quite well towards the end.
Like "Bones" from "Ghost Ranch", "Time Machine" begins with ticking wood blocks to give s sense of time before moving into an archaic sounding melody. The mod of this "past" movement is quite subdued, perhaps mysterious. The "Future" movement has less obvious points of reference melodically but returns to the opening music towards the end. For "future" this movement hardly sounds avant garde or new and doesn't offer that much contrast to the opening movement - a bit more animated perhaps, but that is about it. This is the most abstract work on the disc and Michael Daugherty's attempts to explain its message in the cd notes doesn't really add much enlightenment to the "programme" behind it.
It being a mixed bag; I've knocked a star off but the recording and playing is terrific and there's certainly nothing to scare a nervous listener. The reflections on American culture are no reason to be sniffy - the lighter works are the most effective ones on this disc: this is mostly extrovert music that's fun to listen to. At this price it's still warmly recommended overall.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Why is it that many 20th century classical composers who make the most impression on me, don't use percussion very often. I mean Sibelius, Butterworth, Simpson, Nielsen. They rely on the strings, color with woodwind and brass and sometimes use percussion. Even Shostakowitch uses percussion only to give accent, rhythm, fear and anger to the string work he wrote. Even a highly percussive work like his 11th symphony has the most deeply felt music in it's string writing. Yes, he can use a lot of percussion but not for the sake of it alone. The composer Arthur Butterworth has written a very clear essay on this subject: Orchestral colour in the 21st century - fashion in new sounds (it's on Musicweb). To put it short the problem with percussion is that subtlety of expression cannot be reached. It's only a thing for give some passages extra strength and rhythm. It cannot be used as a melodious instrument. Enter many composers like Daugherty. They rely heavily on percussion. So much so that their music, that sounds flashy, interesting and dynamic on first hearing becomes tiresome, repetitive and colourless after 3 or 4 hearings. Only on one or two occasions Daugherty manages to produce some interesting string writing nu that's not much for such a long CD. It seems that this music perfectly rtunes with American culture: flashy, meaningless, without any depth, loud and gone the moment you hear it. This is music that'll only leave an empty impression on you. It's consumer-music, like going to a supermarket with all the lights on. That doesn't mean it's easy to play or conduct; even so in one of the pieces on this disc three conductors are necessary! Must be a world record after Stokowski and Serebrier did it with 2 at the première of Ives 4th symphony half a century ago. The performance, recording, presentation are all top notch, don't get me wrong. And I compliment Naxos on their enterprising music choice. For that this release gets 5 stars, but for musical contents it's 1 or 2.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Daugherty is the tour guide in this fascinating trip through the southwest!
1 Feb 2011
Format:Audio CD
Michael Daugherty is one of the best and most interesting composers working today! His music is a melange of various sources; rock, pop, minimalism, the 19th century - all blended together in a way that way captures the listener and has come to define his style. His latest CD program, "Route 66", on Naxos American Classics serves as a terrific introduction to his music for those who need one as well as a sonic "tour" of the American southwest. Three of the pieces in this wonderful collection are inspired by trips through the heartland and to the west coast. Yet, this thematic similarity that gives the program its unity is after the fact. "Route 66" is a short, jaunty excursion that simulates, in music, the feel of passing through different vistas and ethnic inspirations culminating in a big band, big city feel. The work, written for the Kalamazoo, MI, Symphony in 1998, features Daugherty's characteristically exciting and jazz inspired use of brass and percussion. This disc then evokes the sights and sounds of New Mexico as depicted by its most famous artist, Georgia O'Keefe. "Ghost Ranch" (2006) is written in three movements - Bone, Above Clouds and Black Rattle. Each movement evokes imagery from actual O'Keefe paintings. The imagery in "Bone" reflects the many skull and bone images found in O'Keefe's work (who found inspiration in the contrast between the beauty of clean skies and open desert and the starkness of dry, abandoned remains and archeological ruins) The effects which rely on wood percussion and other 'bone-like' timbres is clear and effective. "Above Clouds" references the painting, "Sky Above Clouds I-IV" The effects of space and distance are handled with some wonderful "floating" brass writing. Lastly, "Black Rattle" depicts O'Keefe's own experiences being alone in the desert with strange, often frightening sounds at night. The orchestration depicts the danger, the solitude and the "blackness" with great effect. Imagine then, that the journey evoked by this CD ends in downtown LA, specifically on "Sunset Strip" (1999) where bars, strip clubs, private detective agencies and the whole mid fifties "noir" imagery of the growing Los Angeles is felt with jazzy, Latin inspired and somewhat 'seedy' aplomb! This is a very nice piece that depicts its moods from '7 PM' through the 'Nocturne' and ending at '7 AM" The last work in this collection is Daugherty's "Time Machine" from 2003. This piece does not have anything directly in connection with the 'travelogue' of the others. However, its focus on "Past" and "Future" works nicely to mesh with some of the nostalgic tour of the other works. This is a big, vivid orchestral work wherein the ensemble is divided into three parts, requiring three conductors as the orchestra is physically divided on the stage. Daugherty explains that when the three parts play together, it creates a "three dimensional" effect to simulate flying through time. His orchestration is, again, colorful, relying on odd but beautiful effects in the percussion and winds. The more works I hear by Michael Daugherty, the more I like it. His music is accessible, fun to listen to and incredibly creative and clever in its themes and orchestration. The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra give another great performance here and conductor Marin Alsop proves again that is both one of America's finest conductors as well as an expert interpreter of contemporary American music! I liked this disc a lot and I believe most people would. Take the trip down this particular "Route 66"!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Route 66, by Daugherty
22 Feb 2011
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Michael Daugherty is worthy of musics most dynamic creative composers today. Another triumph to add to his achievements.
The composer effectively paints his music with broad brush strokes and vivid contrasts, and spacial musical imagination in this recent CD recorded by Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Marin Allsop.
Route 66 -- This movement starts with streaming orchestrated texture of four trumpets and a metallic brake drum pulsating with woodwinds, mallet instruments and bongos winding chromatic scales down Route 66.
Ghost Ranch--Inspired by the artist Georgia O'Keeffe who searched for deeper truths in her paintings that hovered between realism and abstraction.
1. " Bone" This music is about bleached animal bones O'Keeffe collected and with abstract imagination painted on canvas. String instruments, hollowed wood blocks in percussion with movements heightened toward one melodic pitch, exemplify her art.
2. " Above Clouds " In this movement we hear a horn and solo horns with the music evoking a dreamy detachment from the real world like her paintings of cloud formations.
3. " Black Rattle " O'Keeffe would often put herself in precarious situations of storms, wild animals, and barren unchartered landscapes to inspire her unusual paintings. Michael Daugherty uses twisting melodies to reach the inner depths of the unknown, adding bassoons, oboes, and an English horn joined by orchestrated brass echoes and chimes that reach into the drama of darkness.
Sunset Strip--A journey orchestrated of the past and present embellishing elliptical fantasies re-imagined by the composer in which he captures flawlessly with overtones of dreamlike music.
Time Machine-- Multiple tempos and meters are incorporated simultaneously in three orchestras with three conductors alluding to travel in the fourth dimension of time. Dynamic subtleties of rhythms and expressive shadings of sound complicated by effortless patterns of musical undertones challenging contrasting worlds divided by dimensions of space.
1. " Past" Movements of expressive interpretation highlighted by mechanical clocks, echoes with dance-like musical tones conveying the diverse worlds.
2. " Future " Mysterious harp solos and harmonic progressions unfold the contrasting worlds of sound. The composer confronts the listener " Are we traveling in time toward a better future or a more bleak vision ? "
In conclusion, For what is space if not time ?
JK Jordan
The composer effectively paints his music with broad brush strokes and vivid contrasts, and spacial musical imagination in this recent CD recorded by Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Marin Allsop.
Route 66 -- This movement starts with streaming orchestrated texture of four trumpets and a metallic brake drum pulsating with woodwinds, mallet instruments and bongos winding chromatic scales down Route 66.
Ghost Ranch--Inspired by the artist Georgia O'Keeffe who searched for deeper truths in her paintings that hovered between realism and abstraction.
1. " Bone" This music is about bleached animal bones O'Keeffe collected and with abstract imagination painted on canvas. String instruments, hollowed wood blocks in percussion with movements heightened toward one melodic pitch, exemplify her art.
2. " Above Clouds " In this movement we hear a horn and solo horns with the music evoking a dreamy detachment from the real world like her paintings of cloud formations.
3. " Black Rattle " O'Keeffe would often put herself in precarious situations of storms, wild animals, and barren unchartered landscapes to inspire her unusual paintings. Michael Daugherty uses twisting melodies to reach the inner depths of the unknown, adding bassoons, oboes, and an English horn joined by orchestrated brass echoes and chimes that reach into the drama of darkness.
Sunset Strip--A journey orchestrated of the past and present embellishing elliptical fantasies re-imagined by the composer in which he captures flawlessly with overtones of dreamlike music.
Time Machine-- Multiple tempos and meters are incorporated simultaneously in three orchestras with three conductors alluding to travel in the fourth dimension of time. Dynamic subtleties of rhythms and expressive shadings of sound complicated by effortless patterns of musical undertones challenging contrasting worlds divided by dimensions of space.
1. " Past" Movements of expressive interpretation highlighted by mechanical clocks, echoes with dance-like musical tones conveying the diverse worlds.
2. " Future " Mysterious harp solos and harmonic progressions unfold the contrasting worlds of sound. The composer confronts the listener " Are we traveling in time toward a better future or a more bleak vision ? "
In conclusion, For what is space if not time ?
JK Jordan
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