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Peter Boyer: Ellis Island: The Dream of America | 
| Creators: Peter Boyer, Philharmonia Orchestra Of London
Label: Naxos American
Category: Music
List Price: $8.99
Buy New: $3.69
You Save: $5.30 (59%)
New (15) Used (10) Collectible (1) from $1.74
Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 37655
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 8559246
UPC: 063694392462
EAN: 0063694392462
ASIN: B0008JEKFY
Release Date: May 17, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | Prologue | | • | Words of Helen Cohen, emigrated from Poland in 1920, read by Blair Brown | | • | Interlude 1 | | • | Words of James Apanomith, emigrated from Greece in 1911, read by Louis Zorich | | • | Interlude 2 | | • | Words of Lillian Galleta, emigrated from Italy in 1928, read by Olympia Dukakis | | • | Interlude 3 | | • | Words of Lazarus Salamon, emigrated from Hungary in 1920, read by Eli Wallach | | • | Interlude 4 | | • | Words of Helen Rosenthal, emigrated form Belgium in 1940, read by Bebe Neuwirth | | • | Interlude 5 | | • | Words of Manny Steen, emigrated from Ireland in 1925, read by Barry Bostwick | | • | Interlude 6 | | • | Words of Katherine Beychock, emigrated from Russia in 1910, read by Anne Jackson | | • | Epilogue: "The New Colossus" (Emma Lazarus, 1883), read by all actors |
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 Coming to America June 14, 2005
Robin Friedman (Washington, D.C. United States)
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
It is a pleasure to hear and to review the work of a young, rising American composer. Peter Boyer (b. 1970) has written many splashy, extoverted orchestral works. The large-scaled work on this CD, "Ellis Island: The Dream of America" is an immediately endearing work which captures much of the American immigrant experience. The work is ceremonial music, what some would call "political music", and effective. Since its first performance in 2002, it has been performed approximately forty times by twenty orchestras. It has also been broadcast on NPR. This performance, recorded in 2003, is conducted by Mr. Boyer leading the prestigious Philharmonia Orchestra and includes an impressive group of seven actors who masterfully perform the spoken dialogue.
"Ellis Island: The Dream of America" celebrates the immigrant experience. Musical selections alternate with spoken passages, with accompaniment, culled from the oral history project on Ellis Island. Immigrants gave interviews explaining their reasons for coming to America, their passage, experiences upon arriving at Ellis Island, and their initial response to being in the United States. Boyer includes excerpts from seven oral histories from immigrants, four women and three men, from as many different countries (Poland, Greece, Italy, Hungary, Belgium, Ireland, Russia.) Four of the immigrants are Jewish.
The texts are inspiring and beautifully read, and Boyer's music captures and enhances the excitement of coming to the United States. The work opens with a long orchestral introduction that sets the stage for what follows -- with a slow opening featuring the trumpet and a splashy transition to a lively theme featuring brass, percussion, and bells. Each of the speakers offer their story about coming to America in language that frequently is eloquent. The first speaker, an immigrant from Poland, concludes her history with the realization that in America "you are free!" and her understanding is captured in the musical interlude which follows. The young Greek fisherman who follows makes his own decison to leave his family for America, and his speech and the interlude which follows surges with hope and gratitude. The Italian immigrant rejoins her family and procaims "we are all together now!" to triumphant music. The Hungarian immigrant recognizes that "I became a man here" with the opportunity for a free life, and his realization is accompanied by a reflective meditative passage. The Jewish woman immigrant from Belgium tells her story to the accompaniment of a wailing solo violin. The liveliest passage belongs to the Irish immigrant, a raconteur and non-stop talker who tells his story to the accompaniment of a bouncy, popular theme in the piano and the orchestra. The final speaker is an immigrant from Russia who describes her first sight of the Statue of Liberty as "a vision from heaven". The work concludes with a recitation of Emma Lazarus's great sonnet "The New Colossus" which adorns the base of the statue.
This is open-hearted, patriotic and inspiring ceremonial music about what coming to the United States meant to generations of dispossessed people seeking a better and a free life. Many composers, including Handel, Haydn, Beethoven, and Brahms have written works directed to patriotic purposes. Boyer does well here, and I think his message allows the listener to reflect on our country as a source of hope, promise and freedom. This is a worthy addition to the ongoing Naxos series of American Classics.
Great Adventure May 18, 2005
L. Cardoza
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
This is a great adventure in time. Being able to experience what our grandparents might have been through. It brought back some fond memories of times gone by. BRAVO!
So good that I'm proud to be an American again! May 18, 2005
Trevor Scott Johnson (Louisville, KY USA)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
This moving and well-played music grabs your attention right away. It supports the powerful emotion of the outstanding actors reading poignant accounts of immigrants arriving at Ellis Island. This subject hasn't been highlighted very often in the musical arena that I know of, and Peter Boyer certainly has captured this moment in time with heart and excitement. As an American musician myself, this CD makes me proud on many levels....proud of the history it relates, and proud that an American composer did so well.
21st Century Composer Presents Another Outstanding Offering in "Ellis Island" February 7, 2006
Stephen Deiters (Cincinnati, Ohio)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Extensive play of Peter Boyer's earlier recording "The Music of Peter Boyer" (which unfortunately is now out of print) by our local classical music station prompted my orginal and on going interest in this music from a gifted young composer. "Ellis Island" offers the listener a stunning and varied music mix and textures in various classical forms and formats to meet and enhance the context of the different narrations much in the way a musical score enhances and magnifies the story quality and emotion felt with the soundtrack of a movie or musical. While the use of accompanying narration or story telling is not new to the genre this particular piece has a truely American quality that those of us with any knowledge of our immigrant roots can relate. One can relate in one way or another to almost all the stories.
This recording fits nicely with other NAXOS recording in this series. Music that is sometimes not often heard or recorded or may be new, but is none the less worthy of our attention and that of others because it is that good.
Mr. Boyer falls into the catagory of other 21st century composers I find myself listening to-Joseph Curiale, Michael Torke, John Adams and others-who are carrying on the traditons of giants of the 20th century-Copeland, Elmer Bernstein, Leonard Bernstein and others-and taking this rich traditon of music to the next level and beyond. After "Ellis Island" I am anxiously looking forward to Mr. Boyer's next compositions and recording.
 Inspiring piece of music and history October 3, 2005
Moby Van Cat
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Perhaps I am a sucker for anything about Ellis Island since both my parents came to this country through Ellis Island. Be that as it may, I thorougly enjoyed the spoken stories of immigrants and the musical interludes (which reminded me of Aaron Copland). The music moved me and I thought the mix of music and spoken sections was very effective. I recommend it.
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