News
- Monday, April 15, 2013
Celebrate Jackie Robinson Day with a Tune From Ken Burns's "Baseball"
To celebrate Jackie Robinson Day—marking the day when, in 1947, Jackie Robinson made his major league debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers and broke the color barrier in professional baseball—the Nonesuch Journal revisits Natalie Cole's performance of "Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit That Ball?," off the original soundtrack recording to Ken Burns's landmark 1994 documentary Baseball. Listen to the track here.
- Monday, April 4, 2011
Ken Burns's Acclaimed "The Civil War" Airs on PBS; Nonesuch Soundtrack Won Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album
The Civil War, the five-part film by Ken Burns, deemed one of the most popular offering ever presented on public television, is airing anew on PBS stations across the US this week. Nonesuch released the official soundtrack recording to the film back during its original run in 1990; it went on to win the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album. Featuring traditional American music ranging from brass bands to gospel choirs, “the music in The Civil War achieves an eloquence parallel to that of the narration," wrote GQ, "and it reinforces the visual illusion of aching, coming-to-life immediacy."
About Ken Burns
Ken Burns is an Academy Award–nominated documentary filmmaker who has directed and produced nearly 20 films over the past three decades. Burns was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1953 and, fittingly, his first documentary deals with the history of the Brooklyn Bridge. Other notable Burns documentaries include The Civil War, Jazz, The National Parks, The War (about World War II), and Baseball. Several of his works have been the highest-rated programs in American public television history and have earned him innumerable film and television awards as well as over 20 honorary degrees.
Nonesuch has released the soundtracks for two of Burns’s most popular works: Baseball and The Civil War. The music for the latter, especially the main theme, “Ashokan Farewell,” has been highly praised and is often mistaken for a Civil War–era tune because of its highly evocative use in the film.
Latest Release
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![Baseball [Soundtrack]](http://www.nonesuch.com/files/imagecache/section-artists-latestrelease/albums/coverart/baseball-soundtrack-338-300.jpg "Baseball [Soundtrack]")
Baseball [Soundtrack]
September 1, 1994The soundtrack to Ken Burns's Baseball features music by Natalie Cole, Dr. John, Bruce Hornsby, Branford Marsalis, and Carly Simon, as well as vintage recordings, historic radio calls, and the solo piano playing of Jacqueline Schwab. From "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" to "Hurrah for the National Game," Schwab's instrumental interludes weave an ongoing emotional thread through the film.
![Baseball [Soundtrack]](http://www.nonesuch.com/files/imagecache/section-artists-albumsforsale/albums/coverart/baseball-soundtrack-338-300.jpg "Baseball [Soundtrack]")
![The Civil War [Soundtrack]](http://www.nonesuch.com/files/imagecache/section-artists-albumsforsale/albums/coverart/civil-war-soundtrack.jpg "The Civil War [Soundtrack]")