Voting is open for our first ever Classical California Ultimate Playlist. Wouldn’t it be great if California were well-represented on the list? Dianne Nicolini hosts Play On weekdays at noon, showcasing the musicians of the Golden State. She has collected five uniquely Californian pieces for your consideration. If you think any of these pieces should be on the Classical California Ultimate Playlist click here to vote or let us know in the comments below.
Andrew York: Pacific Coast Highway
Some top-down fun from a former member of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet.
Henry Cowell: Hymn and Fuguing Tune
The California-born composer summoned a lush sound for this work from 1944.
Jake Heggie: Earthrise
The San Francisco-based composer of such operas as “Dead Man Walking” and “Moby Dick”, employs the ethereal-sounding musical saw to memorable effect in this take on the famous photograph of our planet from space.
Gabriela Lena Frank: Apu: Tone Poem for Orchestra
Berkeley-born and raised, the renowned contemporary composer Gabriela Lena Frank recently relocated from the Bay Area to a farm near Mendocino. How Californian can you get? Here the impressive National Youth Orchestra performs a recent work, commissioned by the NYO and Carnegie Hall.
Jerry Goldsmith: Soundtrack to Chinatown
Any survey of music from California has make a stop in Hollywood, where composers have been providing the aural backdrop to cinematic dreams for more than 100 years. Goldsmith’s music for Chinatown perfectly captures the smoky melancholy and mystery of this great movie.
