America is often associated with bold, celebratory and self-confident music – yet many masterpieces either by American composers or inspired by its land are altogether of more subtle character. The three works on this album are all quite introspective in character despite some exuberant episodes; and each reflects in their different way upon the land once known as the New World. In the 19th and 20th centuries, America represented for those who left the Old World – meaning in most cases Europe – and sailed across the Atlantic the hope of starting a new life unshackled from the past and its politics. America was for many a land of dreams, and it is this reflective and dream-like quality which unites these three otherwise quite different compositions. © Rubicon