aworks :: "new" american classical music

Mount Rushmore (2010). Michael Daugherty /the black hills/

Image by steffofsd via Flickr

Speaking of North by Northwest, the Pacific Symphony in Orange County will play the premiere of his Mount Rushmore next month.

Musical America:

Michael Daugherty explores the Black Hills of South Dakota and “The Greatest Generation” in his latest piece, Mount Rushmore.

Diamond in the Rough (2005). Michael Daugherty

In the NY Times, Bernard Holland finds new works by Michael Daugherty uneventful and bland:

Mr. Daugherty offered bland melodies left unexploited, predictable rhythmic and metric patterns, and percussion effects designed mainly to point out their own cuteness.

The composer on Diamond in the Rough, inspired by Mozart:

The last movement, Wig Dance, mirrors the image of Mozart as an avid partygoer who once remarked he preferred ‘the art of dancing rather than music.’"