Dawson & Kay: Orchestral Works ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra & Arthur Fagen

• William Dawson (1899 - 1990): Negro Folk Symphony:
• 1 Negro Folk Symphony: I. The Bond of Africa 12:04
• 2 Negro Folk Symphony: II. Hope in the Night 12:38
• 3 Negro Folk Symphony: III. O Let Me Shine! 08:13
• Ulysses Kay (1917 - 1995):
• 4 Fantasy Variations 17:53
• 5 Umbrian Scene 13:37
• Total Runtime 01:04:25

Info for Dawson & Kay: Orchestral Works

William Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony was premiered by Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1934 to huge enthusiasm. Its traditional form houses a continuous process of variation and introduces little-known spirituals in fragmentary form, while the work’s recurring motifs, remarkable transitions and syncopations are enhanced in Dawson’s 1952 revision heard here. The Fantasy Variations by composer and teacher Ulysses Kay employs dissonance with great expressivity in a work of textural and coloristic variety. Umbrian Scene, despite its pictorial suggestion, is lean and sombre. Arthur Fagen has conducted at the world’s most prestigious opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera and Vienna State Opera, and has led acclaimed orchestras such as the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie. He has recently conducted the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philharmonia. Fagen has served as principal conductor in Kassel and Brunswick, chief conductor of the Vlaamse Opera and music director of the Queens Symphony Orchestra. From 2002 to 2007, he was music director of the Dortmund Philharmonic Orchestra and the Dortmund Opera.

ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra
Arthur Fagen, conductor

Arthur Fagen
has conducted at the world’s most prestigious opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera and Vienna State Opera, and has led acclaimed orchestras such as the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie. He has recently conducted the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philharmonia.

Fagen has served as principal conductor in Kassel and Brunswick, chief conductor of the Vlaamse Opera and music director of the Queens Symphony Orchestra. From 2002 to 2007, he was music director of the Dortmund Philharmonic Orchestra and the Dortmund Opera.

Fagen has made recordings for BMG, Bayerischer Rundfunk, SFB, and WDR Cologne. He regularly records for Naxos, with releases including a cycle of the Martinů Symphonies [8.553348, 8.553349, 8.553350], and a recording of Martinů’s Piano Concertos Nos. 3 and 5 with Giorgio Koukl [8.572206], which was selected as an Editor’s Choice in the March 2010 issue of Gramophone magazine. Fagen has been music director of The Atlanta Opera since 2010 and is also chair of orchestral conducting at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington.

ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra
An ensemble of international renown, the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra (Vienna RSO) is a paragon of Viennese orchestral tradition. Known for its exceptional programming, the orchestra combines 19th-century repertoire with contemporary works and rarely performed pieces from other periods.

All Vienna RSO performances are broadcast on the radio, and the orchestra performs in two subscription series in Vienna, in the Musikverein and the Konzerthaus. In addition, it appears every year at major Austrian and international festivals, such as the Salzburg Festival, musikprotokoll im steirischen herbst and Wien Modern. The Vienna RSO enjoys a successful collaboration with the Theater an der Wien, has an excellent reputation as an opera orchestra, and is also equally at home in the film music genre.

The orchestra regularly tours internationally, and its discography spans a broad range of cross-genre recordings. Under the leadership of its former chief conductors, which include Milan Horvat, Leif Segerstam, Lothar Zagrosek, Pinchas Steinberg, Dennis Russell Davies, Bertrand de Billy and Cornelius Meister, the orchestra has continuously expanded its repertoire and its international reputation. Marin Alsop has served as chief conductor since September 2019.

Booklet for Dawson & Kay: Orchestral Works