MDR-Sinfonieorchester / Wegener / Hampson / Davies

In John Adams’s vocal work »The Wound-Dresser«, star baritone Thomas Hampson takes on the role of the poet Walt Whitman, who describes his experiences as a hospital volunteer during the American Civil War. As a representative of minimal music, Adams has been highly influential in post-war American music and has won several Grammy Awards. Charles Ives’s orchestral work »Decoration Day« is also all about leave-taking: on this day, Americans remember the fallen and decorate their graves. Finally, in his monumental vocal symphony, reminiscent of Gustav Mahler, Leonard Bernstein set the prayer »Kaddish«, quasi the Jewish »Our Father«, to music.