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| Peter Boyer: Ellis Island: The Dream of America | 
 enlarge | Creators: Peter Boyer, Philharmonia Orchestra Of London
Label: Naxos American
Category: Music
List Price: $8.99
Buy New: $4.47
You Save: $4.52 (50%)
New (11) Used (4) Collectible (1) from $4.47
Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 139434
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 8559246
UPC: 636943924624
EAN: 0636943924624
ASIN: B0008JEKFY
Release Date: May 17, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: BRAND NEW, Factory Sealed items direct from the Studios. 30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee. Quick International Airmail!
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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
11 out of 11 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.
So good that I'm proud to be an American again! May 18, 2005
4 out of 4 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.
Great Adventure May 18, 2005
4 out of 4 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!
 Great Idea - Mediocre Realization July 29, 2005
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I would really give this 3 1/2 stars. This is a good idea and the stories are varied and moving. The musical realization is well orchestrated but not very original. Boyer is an innovative orchestrator and has a formidable bag of tricks. Being familiar with some of his other music such as Ghosts of Troy, I would say that this music is a step down. He seems to be trying too hard to create something important. The opening theme is rather generic and seems to be channeling a combination of Aaron Copland and Jerry Goldsmith. In one of the interludes, there is a very "Twilight Zone" flavor created with marimba and piano (I could be wrong about the instruments here). He has used some of the same orchestral effects here that he used in Titanic to create the feeling of oceanic distress.
I would have thought Boyer would use this opportunity to create some interesting orchestral music combined with traditional ethnic elements native to the various cultures represented, and also to reflect distinctly American music that was present at the turn of the 20th century. He did this somewhat with the "Tin Pan Alley" interlude, but this was rather cliche.
For what I believe is a more successful and moving realization of somewhat the same time period and subject matter, check out Charles Strouse's score to the musical "Rags".
Ellis Island brought tears to my eyes, loved it! August 3, 2005
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I really enjoyed the music and readings. Bought extra so I could use them as gifts.
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