American Fantasy by Alfredo Antonini and his Orchestra

American Fantasy like

by Alfredo Antonini and his Orchestra

Price:: €10.99



1	play	Add to Playlist	Turkey In The Straw	1:36	€1.19	Buy Share This Song like
2	play	Add to Playlist	Western Fantasy	3:16	€1.19	Buy Share This Song like
3	play	Add to Playlist	Cowboy Dance	1:27	€1.19	Buy Share This Song like
4	play	Add to Playlist	Old Black Joe	3:13	€1.19	Buy Share This Song like
5	play	Add to Playlist	Mocking Bird	2:32	€1.19	Buy Share This Song like
6	play	Add to Playlist	The Irish Washerwoman	1:12	€1.19	Buy Share This Song like
7	play	Add to Playlist	Home On The Range	3:34	€1.19	Buy Share This Song like
8	play	Add to Playlist	Variations On "Oh Susannah"	1:52	€1.19	Buy Share This Song like
9	play	Add to Playlist	Deep River	2:33	€1.19	Buy Share This Song like
10	play	Add to Playlist	Dance Around The Tree	2:47	€1.19	Buy Share This Song like

Album Info

Folk songs have always constituted an indelible part of the ‘American Fantasy’. They are the ballads, the songs of community sings and the close harmony ditties of barbershop quartets that grew up with the country and became enshrined in millions of hearts. They are the pearls of America’s treasure chest of popular songs. These songs possess in an intangible sort of way a certain status that immediately identifies them as immortals in the musical hall of fame. In this album the dynamic performances of Alfredo Antonini And His Orchestra visibly demonstrate why these songs are living, throbbing entities that have made an inimitable and everlasting contribution to musical Americana. The year 1834 gave birth to a rural type tune which has become a country fiddler’s delight. Alfredo Antonini’s Orchestra has used it to open the album as the string and bow virtuosos present an inventive treatment of Turkey In The Straw. The Orchestra then moves on to the Wild West to perpetuate the romantic image of the cowboy in song and legend – the hero of the open range, long cattle drives, Indian warfare and rustlers. First there’s the Antonini arrangement of Western Fantasy, a medley of ageless cowboy songs that reflect the panoramic richness of our folk music heritage. It’s followed by the rousing and spirited orchestral novelty, Cowboy Dance. In 1860, four years before his death, Stephen Foster wrote one of his greatest songs, Old Black Joe. The broad, sweeping melody of this poignant plantation song, effectively arranged in a classical style, gets a memorable performance from the Antonini ensemble. At about the same time that Foster wrote his masterpiece, a humble barber in Philadelphia named Septimus Winner wrote another tune which was destined to become equally famous – Listen To The Mocking Bird. In Maestro Antonini’s arrangement of Mocking Bird, the orchestration is an inexhaustible fount of invention aided by the dazzling virtuosity of key instrumentalists, headed by flute soloist Julius Baker. The second side begins with a contribution from Ireland, a bright jig called The Irish Washerwoman, as the orchestra blends classical traditions with popular flavor and lilt. Another Western epic – the “cowboy’s national anthem” Home On The Range is next. Alfredo Antonini turns this haunting, plaintive melody, that expresses the lonesome longing of the cowboy, into an impressive tone painting of Americana. Stephen Foster is again represented by one of his immortal melodies. This time, however, we hear Foster’s catchy Oh Susannah endowed with ingenious variation, unexcpected turns and modern harmonies, superimposed in a twentieth-century idiom by composer Michel Gusikoff. Then, for another turnabout, the Antonini strings give a truly poetic reading of the beautiful and cherished spiritual, Deep River. Maestro Antonini closes the album with a lively and charming selection in an Old English style, evoking the spirit of the colonial settlers, as he conducts the orchestra in The Dance Around The Tree.

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