Composer Robert E. Cucinotta has released a new single Night Music in Central Park, a free arrangement for piano of You and the Night and the Music (1934) and Dancing in the Dark (1931), as a tribute to the music of Arthur Schwartz. Born in Brooklyn in 1900, Schwartz was a major American composer, and a friend of George and Ira Gershwin. The mention of Central Park in the title and the inclusion of the sound of a horse drawn carriage are references to the famous Fred Astaire/Cyd Charisse scene in Vincent Minelli’s 1953 film, The Band Wagon, which includes an orchestral version of Dancing in the Dark. Cucinotta was introduced to this song as a young boy studying accordion in south Brooklyn. The single was produced digitally using virtual concert piano, computer voices and FX.

Born in Brooklyn, NY, Cucinotta is an American composer best known for his experimental percussion and electronic music. During what the composer calls his “long love-hate relationship with music technology,” he has often blurred the line between electronic and acoustic music by writing “electronically” for acoustic instruments and using samples and software to generate “acoustic” music. His compositions often mix classical and popular styles, ambient sounds, computer generated and natural voices, tonality and atonality. He cites Edgard Varèse, Charles Ives, Elliott Carter, Luciano Berio, Frank Zappa, and early Grateful Dead among his influences.  

Cucinotta lives in the Catskills with his wife, poet Sharon Israel.

To learn more, visit https://www.rcucinotta.com.