The original films by Pare Lorentz with newly-recorded soundtracks.

Composer:
Virgil Thomson
Conductor:
Angel Gil-Ordóñez
Ensemble:
Post-Classical Ensemble
Author:
Pare Lorentz
Label:
Naxos

View the trailer:

The Plow that Broke the Plains / The River from PostClassical Ensemble on Vimeo.

Read the reviews:

World premiere recordings of the complete film scores.

Pare Lorentz’s The Plow that Broke the Plains (1936) and The River (1937) are landmark American documentary films. Aesthetically, they break new ground in seamlessly marrying pictorial imagery, symphonic music, and poetic free verse, all realized with supreme artistry. Ideologically, they indelibly encapsulate the strivings of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal. Virgil Thomson’s scores for both films are among the most famous ever composed for the movies. Aaron Copland praised the music for The Plow for its “frankness and openness of feeling”, calling it “fresher, more simple, and more personal” than the Hollywood norm. He called the music for The River “a lesson in how to treat Americana.”

The classic 1939 documentary film with a newly recorded soundtrack.

Made for the 1939 New York World’s Fair, The City is a seminal documentary film distinguished for the organic integration of narration (scripted by city planner Lewis Mumford), cinematography (Ralph Steiner and Willard Van Dyke), and music (Aaron Copland). The score, arguably Copland’s highest achievement in film, was also his ticket to Hollywood; The LA Times‘s Mark Swed called it “an astonishing missing link not only in the genesis of Copland’s Americana style but in American music and cinema.” As the film contains no dialogue, it is possible to create a fresh soundtrack and discover musical riches inaudible on the original monaural recording.

Watch the trailer:

The City from PostClassical Ensemble on Vimeo.