The United States has been called a melting pot, comprised of people from a diversity of backgrounds who share a common vision: the "American dream." This dream has meant not only political liberty and economic opportunity but also intellectual and creative freedom. Thus, immigrants from around the globe have helped the United States achieve preeminence in the arts and sciences. This recording acknowledges the profound influence that immigrants have had on music in the United States by featuring the compositions of American immigrant musicians. Whether fleeing persecution or coming to better the life of their families, they and their children are among our most noted composers: Bernstein, Stravinsky, Leroy Anderson...even John Phillip Sousa's family immigrated from Portugal and Germany. We commemorate the contributions that immigrants have made to our musical heritage with their "American Songs"
 

The New World, and especially the United States of America, has long inspired artists of every kind, from painters recording Western grandeur to poets lauding the American spirit. Music is no different. The most famous work inspired by America is Antonin Dvorak's Nith Symphony titled "From the New World", but other composers have written of the U.S. as well, such as the "American" overtures of Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev and English composer Benjamin Britten. This does not even include the work of composer-immigrants such as Claudio Grafulla, Percy Aldridge Grainger, and Igor Stravinsky. This recording features such selections: musical works by foreign composers writing about the New World.