Creston: Symphonies 1-3
Paul Creston (1906-1985) was a younger participant in the "flowering" of American classical music in the 1930s and 1940s. But rather than aligning himself with the nostalgic, lyrical Romanticism of Aaron Copland, Roy Harris, and Howard Hanson, Creston aligned himself with the rugged, more dynamic aspects of Modernism found in the music of Walter Piston, Peter Mennin, and Samuel Barber. These three symphonies contain none of American Romanticism's melancholia or homesickness, for example, but they do remain mostly tonal and buoyant, soaring with their own energy and inventiveness, particularly Symphony No. 3 (Three Mysteries), written in 1950. Praise must also be given to the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine and conductor Theodore Kuchar for their feel for Creston's music--altogether another achievement in Naxos's American Classics series.--Paul Cook