City Noir

Nonesuch Records releases CITY NOIR - comprising the title piece by composer John Adams and the debut recording of his Saxophone Concerto. Both pieces are performed by the St. Louis Symphony led by Music Director David Robertson. Saxophonist Timothy McAllister is featured on both pieces. CITY NOIR 'is a symphony inspired by the peculiar ambience and mood of Los Angeles 'noir' films, especially those produced in the late '40s and early '50,' says Adams in his notes on the piece. 'My music is an homage not necessarily to the film music of that period but rather to the overall aesthetic of the era.' Following THE DHARMA AT BIG SUR and EL DORADO, CITY NOIR 'becomes the third in a triptych of orchestral works that have as their theme the California experience, it's landscape and it's culture,' explains the composer. In it's review of the piece, the New York Times said that Adams 'has become a master at piling up materials in thick yet lucid layers. Moment to moment the music is riveting.'