Daugherty - This Land Sings review | Andrew Clements's classical album of the week

The Guardian 80

Socolofsky/Daugherty/Dogs of Desire/Miller
(Naxos)
Michael Daugherty’s tribute chronicles Guthrie’s life in 17 fluent pieces for soprano, baritone and ensemble, with tints of US music from folk to jazz

Michael Daugherty’s music has always embraced the full, polyglot spectrum of American culture. He’s composed a Metropolis Symphony after the Superman comics and an opera called Jackie O, while Dead Elvis was a work for bassoon and ensemble, and Tales of Hemingway is his cello concerto. But This Land Sings, “inspired by the life and times of Woody Guthrie”, first performed in 2016, is a much more straightforward, touching tribute to the singer-songwriter, who is one of the iconic figures in the history of American music.