Peter Boyer's Ellis Island: The Dream of America will not surprise or disappoint anyone looking for a straightforward presentation piece in the American populist vein, à la Copland's A Lincoln Portrait. Indeed, the music is so openly tonal, melodic, and richly orchestrated; the attitude so noble and patriotic; and the subject matter so emotionally compelling, it would be surprising and disappointing if Boyer had not followed Copland's example, and had set these authentic immigrant narratives from the Ellis Island Oral ...
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Peter Boyer's Ellis Island: The Dream of America will not surprise or disappoint anyone looking for a straightforward presentation piece in the American populist vein, à la Copland's A Lincoln Portrait. Indeed, the music is so openly tonal, melodic, and richly orchestrated; the attitude so noble and patriotic; and the subject matter so emotionally compelling, it would be surprising and disappointing if Boyer had not followed Copland's example, and had set these authentic immigrant narratives from the Ellis Island Oral History Project in anything less than an accessible, American vernacular style. Yet it is the texts, not the music, which matter most in this work, and listeners will find the effective but expectedly epic score less absorbing than the absorbing performances by actors Blair Brown, Louis Zorich, Olympia Dukakis, Eli Wallach, Bebe Neuwirth, Barry Bostwick, and Anne Jackson, who deliver the historic accounts with believable characterizations and genuine emotions. Of course, any invocation of...
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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, extroverted 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 decision 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 proclaims "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.
