Reinagle/Hewitt/Carr: Overtures (Naxos Audio CD)

James HEWITT(1770-1827)
Medley Overture in D minor-major

Benjamin CARR (1768-1831)
Federal Overture

James HEWITT (1770-1827)
New Medley Overture in C major
New Federal Overture

Alexander REINAGLE (1756-1809)
Miscellaneous Overture in D major
Occasional Overture in D major
Overture in G major

Musical life in late eighteenth-century America was every bit as vibrant as that in Europe, increasingly so as local composers flourished in the wake of the War of Independence. English-born Benjamin Carr and James Hewitt and Scottish-born Alexander Reinagle contributed entertaining orchestral works to a growing ‘New World’ repertoire, their overtures often comprising medleys of famous classical and popular music. The internationally renowned Sinfonia Finlandia Jyväskylä here presents sparkling performances of these spirited pieces in accomplished reconstructions by composer and musicologist Bertil van Boer, restoring this forgotten symphonic legacy to its rightful place in America’s musical heritage.