Bryant Park Picnic Performances: American Symphony Orchestra
Free
Leon Botstein conducts the American Symphony Orchestra in a program highlighting the different forms of expression and musical languages that emerged following World War I such as dance, theater, and jazz.
In the years immediately following World War I, the American artistic scene experienced an extraordinary burst of creativity. Responding to the horror and brutality of that war, artists, writers and composers rejected the exalted ideals of the previous century, focusing instead on creating new means of expression, ones that would accurately reflect the realities this new age required. With Jazz, many American composers found a new source of inspiration, one distinctly American, as well as thoroughly fresh, modern and exciting. Some of the works offered in this program reflect this fascination in the Roaring Twenties with this language, with its irresistible rhythmic energy and catchy melodies. Other composers sought to push the boundaries of musical expression with radical, "ultra-modern" languages. Whether by polytonality, jagged counterpoint, and asymmetric ostinatos or brash atonality – in which melody, harmony, and rhythm are harshly distorted and deconstructed – the experimental impulses of this generation are presented here in its arguably finest exponents.
About American Symphony Orchestra
The American Symphony Orchestra is a New York-based American orchestra, founded in 1962, dedicated to providing great music for everyone. The ASO chamber series features musician-curated programs that represent the diverse perspectives across New York City and worldwide, through explorations of the many styles and genres of American music.
https://americansymphony.org/