Sentimental and Animated is an album of various works that will please a wide variety of listeners! With the composer Charles Fernandez at the helm of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, he leads us through various works, from the more Classical “Tone Poem for Clarinet and Strings” and the three movement “Oboe Concerto”; to the more theatrical “Songs from a Child’s Point of View”(Based on Children’s Poems and with soprano Melissa Fahn); to the more animated “Ratso Scherzo” for piano and orchestra and Animatus Eventus, a three movement homage to cartoon music past and present. As a extra, Mr. Fernandez includes his “Candy From a Baby”, his version of Manciniesque Bachelor Pad music. There is truly something here for everyone. Please take a listen and buy this CD for yourself or friends! Here are more details on what you’ll hear: RATSO SCHERZO is a short whimsical work for Piano and Orchestra based on music written for an episode of Television’s Casper, where rats run loose in an ensemble during a piano concerto performance. TONE POEM for Clarinet and Strings began life as a work for Clarinet and Cello Quartet, later revised and expanded for Ms. Goode-Castro. Imagine dawn and progression through the day in an Oregon Forest. The OBOE CONCERTO began life with the second movement, “Elegy”, being composed for oboist Cheryl Foster. The other two movements were commissioned by the oboist Francisco Castillo. SONGS FROM A CHILD’S POINT OF VIEW were originally written for Soprano C. Jean Varney and based on Various Children’s poems. All are rather cinematic in their imagery, especially “if No One Ever Marries Me” (Lyrics by Lawrence Alma-Tadema), where a young girl is playing in a huge field, then sits to ponder her future, and RULES! (Lyrics by Karla Kuskin), where that same girl goes through a tantrum at the endless and pointless rules she must follow. ANIMATUS EVENTUS: This three movement work was written as an homage to animation music over the decades, taking influences from cartoons as far flung as Mighty Mouse to Batman; Loony Tunes to the Simpsons. Animation aficionados will enjoy looking for the subtle and not-so-subtle references, sometimes going back to the original classical music the great animation composers drew on. I hope you’ll listen to and share this music with your friends. Charles Fernandez