The Greatest Unsung American Symphony?

[Amphissa]

Just for the sake of clarity (or not), what qualifies as an "American symphony"?

Must the composer have been born in the U.S?

Must the symphony have been written in the U.S.?

What about a symphony written by a composer born another country who immigrated to the U.S.? What about a symphony written by a composer born another country while visiting the U.S.?

[eschiss1]

What about a symphony written by a composer born another country who immigrated to the U.S.? What about a symphony written by a composer born another country while visiting the U.S.?

Like Hindemith's symphony in Eflat or Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem (if both were written entirely or mainly in 1940- one grants that most composers usually draw at least subconsciously on ideas they've had in their heads for some time, so the beginning dates of compositions are in some sense often decades before their completion dates, and Britten's stay in the US was not that long... but one still gets my meaning.)?

[Amphissa]

hmmm ... part of my post got chopped off. What's up with that?

Continuing ....

And, is this all about the UNITED STATES? Canada, Mexico, all the other countries south of the UNITED STATES are "America" as well.

I don't have a long list of spectacularly crafted gems from Costa Rica or anything, but there are composers from other American countries who actually did write some symphonies. Like Villa-Lobos and Carlos Chavez, for example.

[Alan Howe]

Any symphony written by a born-and-bred American, please. Emigrés allowed if interesting, e.g. Korngold. No visitors or brief-stayers, please, so let's leave out Dvorak 9!

Surely "My fellow Americans...", as used by every president, doesn't mean Mexicans, Canadians, etc.

[Amphissa]

Any symphony written by a born-and-bred American, please. Emigrés allowed if interesting, e.g. Korngold. No visitors or brief-stayers, please, so let's leave out Dvorak 9!

Surely "My fellow Americans...", as used by every president, doesn't mean Mexicans, Canadians, etc.

You obviously fail to appreciate the porousness of U.S. borders. 

[Alan Howe]

So pour us a few US symphonists, please!

[Amphissa]

So I guess, along with Korngold, other U.S. naturalized citizens that would qualify would be composers like Stravinsky, Tcherepnin, Zeisl, Monod, Schoenberg, Hindemith and Rachmaninoff. Can't say there are many unsung symphonies I'd recommend from that list. Rachmaninoff's 3rd doesn't get played much, but he's not unsung.

[TerraEpon]

Technically, 'America' is a perfectly proper name for the United States of America just as Mexico is fior the 'United Mexican States' (etc.). Nothing wrong with the country and continent name being the same.

[Alan Howe]

USA symphonists, please. No immigrants. Moderator slowly losing it...

[Pengelli]

Okay,here goes. I think the following are some of the 'greatest',(or best?) I've heard:

Roy Harris: Symphonies 2,3,6,7,8 & 9
William Schuman : Symphony No's 3 & 5
Peter Mennin: Symphony No 5,6 & 7
Morton Gould: Symphony No 3
Walter Piston: Symphonies 2,4 & 6
David Diamond: Symphony No's 2,3 & 4
Howard Hanson: Symphonies 2,3 & 6
George Antheil : Symphonies 1 & 6
Grant-Still: Symphony No 1 'Afro-American'
Paul Creston: Symphonies 1 & 2

Such variety,but all we get is Copland,Bernstein,Gershwin & Barber. Not that there's anything wrong with their music of course,(except Bernstein,who my mother always dismisses as a big show off.Which he was!)




The recent recording of Roy Harris's innovative eleventh shows how his music was stil evolving & why some record company like Albany Records should hurry up and record more of his,still unrecorded symphonies. I do quite like some of Don Gillis's music,when I'm in the right mood,and there's no sin in writing happy up beat music,but why Albany should give a complete cycle of Don Gillis's symphonies preference over Harris,beats me!
  In fact I think it's absolutely awful that,here we are in the 20th century and there are still no complete cycles of SOME of the above composers.
   Note that I didn't mention Naxos in relation to Harris. I thought their recordings of his 3rd,4th,5th and 6th symphonies were extremely disappointing. Performances like that don't help his cause!
  Incidentally,with respect to the above posts,Roy Harris had some Welsh blood in him,apparently!

[Pengelli]

Oh,Hovhaness get's one entry,his First,which is his best! (And believe me I've heard quite a few!).

[Alan Howe]

Thanks. Moderator has now gathered together clumps of torn-out hair.

[eschiss1]

Also (sorry about the punchy posts on this topic) anyone like Pennsylvania composer Richard Yardumian's (1917-1985) 2nd, by the way (hrm, apparently his first symphony was recorded too and by Ormandy- haven't heard it though I think... I'm pretty sure I've heard both his violin concerto and his second symphony...)?
Have heard part of Arnold Rosner's 5th symphony but was quite impressed by it.

[Delicious Manager]

USA symphonists, please. No immigrants. Moderator slowly losing it...

Hmm... aren't ALL American symphonists ultimately immigrants (I don't know of a single 'native-American' composer)?

[eschiss1]

Hmm... aren't ALL American symphonists ultimately immigrants (I don't know of a single 'native-American' composer)?

Timothy Archambault, perhaps. (see this which covers composers in all genres. Archambault (born 1971) writes and performs contemporary classical. (or Brent Michael Davids (b.1959); George Quincy; perhaps Joseph Renville; Joanne Shenandoah  (symphonist, in the 20th/21st century loose sense- doesn't bother me, mind...); Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate (born 1968).
Eric