Composer Carlos Simon Releases “Four Symphonic Works”

Released on the National Symphony Orchestra label, the album features Gianandrea Noseda conducting the orchestra   

As the Kennedy Center’s Composer-in-Residence, the GRAMMY-nominated composer Carlos Simon has released four of his symphonic works on the National Symphony Orchestra label, distributed by LSO Live.

Recorded live in concert between 2021 and 2024 with the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) and Gianandrea Noseda, each of the works were first released digitally, one at a time, throughout the season. The final release, “Carlos Simon: Four Symphonic Works,” features all four works.

The first work on the album is Simon’s short orchestral study, The Block, which was inspired by the visual art of the late Romare Bearden, whose work reflected African American life in urban cities and the rural American south.

The second work is Tales — A Folklore Symphony, which explores African American culture and folklore. Commissioned by the NSO, Songs of Separation for mezzo-soprano and orchestra was inspired by a set of four poems by the 13th-century Persian poet Jalāl al-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī. The recording also features the two-time GRAMMY Award-winning American mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges.

Lastly, Simon’s Wake Up! Concerto for Orchestra, is based on the Nepali poet Rajendra Bhandarithe’s poem Awake, Asleep, which “warns of the danger of being obliviously asleep in a social world, but yet how collective wakefulness provides ‘a bountiful harvest of thoughts,’” Simon explained in the album notes.

To purchase and listen to the full album, click here.

An advocate for diversity in music. Simon and his works address themes of migration, belonging, and community. His recent commissions have been granted by the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, Los Angeles Opera, Philadelphia Orchestra, PBS, and the Washington National Opera. His works have also been set to ballets by the Washington National Ballet and the American Ballet Theater. 

This year is NSO’s 94th season and Noseda’s eighth season as its Music Director. Since launching its own recording label in 2020, the NSO has completed recording projects including the NSO’s first complete Beethoven Symphony cycle and the first-ever cycle of George Walker’s Sinfonias.