The Romantic Approach: A Special Collection of 20th Century American Music

Aaron Copland (Composer), Leonard Bernstein (Composer), Henry Cowell (Composer), Elliott Carter (Composer), Samuel Barber (Composer), John [1] Cage (Composer), George Gershwin (Composer), Arthur Foote (Composer), Peter Schickele (Composer), Duke Ellington (Composer), Ferde Grofe (Composer), Charles Ives (Composer), Neville Marriner (Conductor), Leonard Bernstein (Conductor), Sergey Koussevitzky (Conductor), Neeme Järvi (Conductor), Antal Dorati (Conductor), Lukas Foss (Conductor), Viklarbo Chamber Ensemble (Performer), Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Viklarbo Chamber Ensemble
• Orchestra: Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields
• Conductor: Neville Marriner, Leonard Bernstein, Sergey Koussevitzky, Neeme Järvi, Antal Dorati, et al.
• Composer: Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, Henry Cowell, Elliott Carter, Samuel Barber, et al.
• Audio CD (September 1, 1994)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Celestial Harmonies
• ASIN: B0000007XT
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #64,301 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #22 in Music > Classical > Historical Periods > Modern, 20th, & 21st Century > Composers > Ives, Charles
  • #42 in Music > Classical > Forms & Genres > Lullabies & Berceuse

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great music - odd title, May 12, 2011

By 

Thelonious "music, philosophy and math" (West Coast, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Romantic Approach: A Special Collection of 20th Century American Music (Audio CD)

This is a great collection of gentle, contemplative (but not flaccid) mid-20th century (mostly 'classical') music. Beautiful stuff that might slightly challenge you with some subtle dissonances, but is overall a quite relaxing and calming experience. If nothing else this will prove that mid-20th century classical is not all Schoenberg and Babbit (and show that Cage actually wrote some music before becoming a conceptual artist)

The marketing is a little weird - it's a New Age label and the title, notes and ad copy all stress romanticism (which in the context of classical music really means something fairly specific that does not, I believe, apply here). It's not your typical New Age fare (though it could conceivably work in that context) nor even your typical "easy classics" compilation.

A personal favorite is the movement from a chamber piece by Peter Schickele (who is also known by a another name). I also like the Cage piece a lot.

Highly recommended