John Adams: Naïve & Sentimental Music/Mother of the Man/Chain to the Rhythm (Nonesuch Audio CD)

Los Angeles Philharmonic
Esa-Pekka Salonen (conductor)
released: 2 September 2002


At 48 minutes, 'Naïve and Sentimental Music' is John Adams' most ambitious score to date. The three-movement work, which takes its title from the German poet Friedrich Schiller, has been called '..an epic in which individual stories peek through the onrush of history..' Los Angeles Times.

The origins of Naïve and Sentimental Music's vastness, sweep and scale can be heard in the composer's earlier works, 'Harmonielehre, El Dorado and the violin concerto, that in varying ways evoke Sibelius and Mahler-like textures and gestures. In a sense, Naïve and Sentimental Music both summarizes Adam's past and points in new directions.