...Given the presence of a picture of President Lincoln on the disc's cover and the placing of the 6th Symphony "Gettysburg" first it is clear that this is the key work on the disc. This is not a war symphony. Although the battle of Gettysburg in 1863 was a turning point in the American Civil War, Harris' focus is on the famous address President Lincoln made when visiting the battlefield some four months later. In one of the briefest yet most famous speeches ever made in America, Lincoln coined the phrase that still resonates in democratic countries to this day; "that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government: of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth". Written in 1944 Harris heads each of the four movements of his symphony with a title; in order Awakening, Conflict, Dedication, and Affirmation. Curiously not one of those words appears in the speech itself. So what we have is a distillation of the varying moods of Lincoln's speech overlaid onto a standard four movement symphonic form. It's a big idea, and one that Harris brings off to powerful effect. To my mind there is a potential danger in giving such bald titles to a movement. The composer is committing himself to a kind of cinematic representation, so `Awakening' (you would suppose) roughly moves from darkness to light - it does; `Conflict' is, well, aggressive and dramatic - it is - and so on. In performance a lot will depend therefore on the players being able to engage in a somewhat technicolour way with the intended emotional goal. Marin Alsop and her excellent Bournemouth orchestra give it a good shot but I am not wholly convinced. This symphony has also been released as part of the above-mentioned Albany cycle played by the Pacific Symphony Orchestra under Keith Clark (originally released but differently coupled on Varèse Sarabande - VCD 47245 and now on Albany TROY064) and I find that performance to be significantly more successful than Alsop. Timings are remarkably similar except in the last movement where Clark shaves a whole minute off Alsop's 7:03. The differences are in two key areas; the engineering and the spirit of the performance. Engineer/producer Tim Handley - who has been responsible for many excellent recordings for Naxos - seems to have produced an acoustic which feels more cavernous than others I have heard from the same venue. This has two main effects - the lower frequencies are very noticeable and upper detail is less distinct. At the very opening of the symphony this has a striking effect on the emotional landscape of the work. The Bournemouth bass drum and timps give a funereal feel against which the shaft of light from the piano, vibraphone and harp struggle to impact. The Clark recording imbues the opening with a hushed expectation with the high chords brightly etched. The solo strings in Bournemouth are quite forward in the mix and rather literal in their approach. The Pacific Symphony Orchestra players, much further back in the orchestral group are given a wraith-like quality that works surprisingly well. Likewise as the movement progresses Harris does not change the basic pulse; instead he increases the number of notes per pulse played. The effect is of an acceleration without accelerating! The Albany/Varèse recording allows the inner detail to register with greater clarity than the Naxos disc. The Pacific Symphony Orchestra seems more convinced by the work and the movement builds to a (surely intended) exultant climax. The Bournemouth playing, while technically beyond reproach, never takes wing. Harris is a motivic rather than melodic composer; there are not many opportunities for great arching melodies to soar over an orchestra. Instead the focus has to be on the cumulative power of the expanding and developing motifs and to my ears this is achieved more fully by Clark than Alsop. As a movement Conflict is more problematic and probably the least satisfying section of the work to my ears. It does not seem to be representing either an inner or outer conflict. This is exactly the kind of movement that needs one of Shostakovich's viscerally exciting nightmare scherzos. Harris opts for piercing brass over a string drone which builds to the various orchestral groups throwing fanfare-like figures at each other. In Bournemouth the bass drum again rather dominates. Curiously, there are moments very similar to Malcolm Arnold when the horns obsessively repeat an upward whooping figure. Again, the forward momentum is built by the same basic pulse being divided into ever smaller parts. Clark and his engineers are much more successful at illuminating detail. Most noteworthy is the extraordinarily abrupt end to the movement. Although the final two movements are separate they fulfil a single emotional span. Building from the rubble at the end of Conflict, Dedication builds slowly and sparely. A solo violin reappears much as in the first movement but the effect here of its falling phrase is that of a benediction. This movement is more lightly scored and indeed for much of the time the strings alone carry the burden of the musical argument. In its simple unwinding groping upwards this movement pre-echoes the minimalist writing of Arvo Pärt certainly during the first 3 - 4 minutes. The wind and brass appear after some five and a half minutes and continue to support the music as it becomes increasingly hymn-like and impassioned. The finale Affirmation continues in much the same vein although it uses one of the older compositional devices Harris prefers - fugue. This is fugal writing very much on his own terms but it does gives him the opportunity to demonstrate one of his other preferred techniques - that where the germinal seed-like motifs grow and expand as the work progresses. The entwining brass lines (again better defined by Clark than Alsop) take on a positive heroic tone interrupted by a curious bass drum and cymbals "oom-pah" figure. There is as much conflicting writing here as there was in the symphony's second movement but this is the chaos of an excited crowd with material overlapping and interrupting in joyful abandon. It makes for a powerful ending to an impressive piece.The other main work here is the Symphony No.5 which was composed when the outcome of World War II was much more in the balance in the Autumn of 1942. It has no title as such but instead bears the rather unwieldy dedication to; "the heroic and freedom-loving people of our great ally, the Union of Soviet Republics". This resulted in the February 1943 premiere being simultaneously broadcast to the USSR. Never afraid to take on big ideas, this time I feel Harris is less successful than in the Gettysburg Symphony. The work has been recorded before - by the Louisville orchestra under Jorge Mester (see First Edition review but before that on Albany AR012) but this is my first encounter with the work. Each of the three movements is given a plain number (all movements are created equal perhaps?) Again motivic development is the central compositional plank on which the works rests. In the case of the symphony's first movement it is based on a rhythmic cell the same as the three note figure that dominates the opening movement of Beethoven's Symphony No.7. This Harris alternates with a militaristic marching motif. Whereas elsewhere this technique builds to a satisfying climax here there is a sense that after a suitable amount of `working out' the movement finishes in an almost arbitrary way. Movement II is another funeral cortege, this time replete with tolling bells and muffled drums. Perhaps I'm just thinking about the dedication but it feels a little hollowly rhetorical and square-jawed. It strikes me as the least original of the symphonic movements on this disc and the one that could most easily be fitted to a film. Movement III again comprises fragmentary motifs thrown against and chasing each other. Again I feel the resonant character of the recording works against multi-lined and layered character of the work. The rhythm of the first movement reappears and with the brass leads to another bold but abrupt conclusion.In the past I have found that Harris's work has grown on me considerably with repeated listenings. I'm loath to be too hard on the Symphony No.5 for the simple reason I do not know the work well yet. As ever, how marvellous that we can take advantage of such assured and authoritative performances at such a low price. One rather glaring error in David Truslove's liner note that is repeated on the CD's cover however. He notes that the disc's filler -Acceleration - from 1941 is reworked as the slow movement of the Symphony No.6. It's not; it is the Symphony No.5. Truslove also omits to mention William Schuman in his pantheon of American Symphonic composers which is surprising since Schuman and Harris are most often linked. I would have to say I find Schuman the greater, more consistent composer, and certainly the one whose symphonies show a more cogent and logical progression both individually and collectively. But that being said I will look forward to further releases in this cycle. --MusicWeb International, Nick Barnard, March 2010...I will briefly reach into an earlier period of America music to let you know about the new Naxos release of Roy Harris's Symphonies Nos. 5 and 6, with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, under Marin Alsop (8.559609). This orchestra proved its chops in playing American music with the stunningly good performance of Vittorio Giannini's Symphony No. 4, reviewed last year. This time American conductor Alsop takes on Harris's two wartime symphonies from 1942 and 1944, Nos. 5 and 6. Credited with writing the great American symphony, his Third, Harris (1898-1960) suffered from the reputation of being a one-work composer. It's a scandal that all of his 13 symphonies have not been recorded long ago, though Naxos has stepped into the breach and is in the process of recording them.   The magnificent No. 6, Gettysburg, alone gives the lie to the one-work bum rap. This is a powerful, visionary work commemorating the fallen from the Civil War. It communicates Harris's signature sense of longing and openness, achieving a kind of prairie majesty that is inimitably American. The Fifth is another stirring work, relayed by radio to American troops around the world during World War II, and it needs no apologies. The Naxos recording is very fine and detailed, revealing more of this music than the prior recordings on the Albany and Louisville labels. Alsop takes a bit more time in the Sixth than did Keith Clark in his very animated version, but what little she may sacrifice in vitality, she gains in clarity. It is wonderful to see Harris finally getting this kind of recognition...The next time you hear American culture reviled, reach for these CDs. --InsideCatholic.com, Robert R. Reilly, January 19, 20109/9 - This is an important release for collectors of contemporary American music. Roy Harris might best be thought of as a sort of "New World" Bruckner. His music is sometimes awkward, rhythmically clunky and unvaried, but also noble, searching, shot through with brass chorales and contrapuntal episodes, and ultimately uplifting. Both of these symphonies reveal these qualities.No. 6, subtitled "Gettysburg", despite the titles of its various movements (Awaking, Conflict, Dedication, Affirmation) is about as programmatic as Bruckner's "Romantic" symphony. It works extremely well as absolute music. The same observation applies to the three-movement Fifth, which shares a very similar sound world. Both works were composed between 1942-44 when Harris was working at the peak of his inspiration.Acceleration shares some thematic material with the Sixth symphony, and the title is deceptive. The movement hardly changes pace at all once it gets going, but as a seven-minute chuck of typical Harris it gets the job done nicely. To say that this music never has been better performed or recorded isn't saying much, since it has received hardly any attention at all. Marin Alsop and the Bournemouth Symphony deliver heartfelt, sincere performances entirely in keeping with the spirit of the music, and they are very well recorded. I welcome this release with pleasure, and so will you. --ClassicsToday.com, David Hurwitz, February 4, 2010Naxos Records is in the process of releasing the complete cycle of symphonies by American composer Roy Harris. That can only be a good thing, especially if the present volume is any indication.Harris's (1898-1979) reputation as an important composer in the modern post-Ivesian mode seems to have waned sometime in the late '50s, only to revive again in the past decade or so. Perhaps it was easy to take him for granted during a period where the very latest advancement of new music got fleeting, flavor-of-the-month attention at the expense of composers who weren't radically breaking with tradition but nonetheless created a body of works that had lasting value.I do not wish to imply that there isn't much of lasting value in the more avant composers of that era, but that's another matter. Harris was certainly one of those in the less sensational, less "advanced" category, along with Piston, William Schumann and a handful of others. His World War II Era symphonies were more overtly nationalist, at least in sentiment, than some of the earlier and later works. In any event they remain excellent examples of the Harris style, long unwinding melodies changing hands among instrumental groups, crisp, clear orchestrations, a bracing, restrained lyricism. Listen to the sonorous, majestic, martial strains remembered in solitude as worked out in the Second Movement of his Fifth Symphony if you need convincing.Marin Alsop and the Bournemouth Symphony give carefully but passionately rendered performances of these works. The added bonus of the miniature work "Acceleration," later reworked into the Sixth Symphony, gives a nice finishing touch to the presentation.Highly recommended listening. . . --Gapplegate Music Review, February 16, 2010Oklahoma-born Roy Harris (1898-1979) was a signature American composer during the middle 20th century, with his Third Symphony one of the most-performed native works. Though his presence on concert programs has waned, the Naxos series devoted to Harris's 13 symphonies reminds us of his music's enduring beauties. He wrote his Symphonies Nos. 5 and 6 ("Gettysburg") during World War II, and they are stirring, deep works, both dedicated to the armies fighting fascism. Harris's influence on top contemporary American composer John Adams is strikingly apparent from the first notes of the Sixth's atmospheric orchestration and in the Fifth's darkly glowing slow movement. Also here is the tone poem "Acceleration," a dry-run for the Sixth. Marin Alsop gets stylish, virtuoso performances from Britain's Bournemouth Symphony, and the sound quality is excellent. --The Star-Ledger, Bradley Bambarger, January 28, 2010Rachmaninoff's warmth, expressiveness and death obsession (all those Dies Irae quotations) are temperamentally quite Russian. But there is also a strong - and surprising - Russian connection in American composer Roy Harris' Symphony No. 5. More properly, it is a Soviet connection: this is a war symphony, written in 1942, and it is dedicated (without a shred of irony, except in retrospect) to "the heroic and freedom-loving people of our great ally, the Union of Soviet Republics." There is nothing sinister in this: the USSR was a crucial member of the Allies in World War II, bore the brunt of some of Hitler's most brutal campaigns, suffered enormous casualties, and in triumphantly breaking the siege of Leningrad (St. Petersburg) gave the Allies an early foretaste of eventual victory. That the nation's own brutal dictator, Stalin, killed more people than Hitler did was not fully understood until well after the war. And so Harris produced a dedication that was patriotic in its time for a three-movement symphony that has no apparent musical connection to the circumstances in which it was written. This fifth of Harris' 16 symphonies is absolute music, its outer movements both growing organically from basic material presented at their openings. If there is a "war" element here, it is in the middle movement, which includes portions of a funeral march. The symphony also includes material from Acceleration, a single movement written a year earlier (1941) that Harris reworked when putting the symphony together. A very different and wholly American war is the foundation of Harris' Symphony No. 6, "Gettysburg." The work, although entirely instrumental, was inspired by quotations from Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. Its four movements bear titles relating to that famous speech: Awakening, Conflict, Dedication and Affirmation. But, as in his previous symphony, Harris delivers absolute rather than program music in Symphony No. 6. There is some tone painting of war in the second movement, but this is more a filmmaker's idea of war than Lincoln's: the movement starts as a march and builds steadily, featuring fragmentary brass themes and yawps before it ends abruptly. More obvious and less emotive than the other three movements, it seems oddly discordant - not in musical terms but in the way it communicates. The other movements have more of the Harris sound and structure, with the third movement's quiet ending being especially effective and the coda of the finale wrapping things up colorfully. Marin Alsop, a champion of 20th-century American music (and generally a more effective conductor of it than of the standard repertoire), approaches these Harris pieces with a sure hand, building them effectively and maintaining a clear sense of their structure throughout. The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra plays well and idiomatically, showing Harris to be, if not a great composer, one with a strong sense of style and considerable skill in orchestration. --The Infodad Team, January 28, 2010Roy Harris is one of our great American symphonists.  That said his music is sadly relatively unknown unless you happen to catch a musical survey course that focuses on American music history.  Even then he tends to be overshadowed by Copland and a fairly dismissive snobbishness in academia to the continuation of the Romantic tradition.  His name tended to rest on two works.  Leonard Bernstein championed the truly superb Third Symphony which has seen a good number or recordings over the years (at least one performance tends to stay in the catalogue.  The First Symphony was introduced in Boston under Koussevitzky and that performance was captured on tape (though the beginning was frustratingly cut off) and has appeared on historic reissues.  Fortunately, Naxos has stepped in to correct a musical wrong by providing what looks to be a slow general overview of his music in their American Classics series.    Naxos has released four of Harris' symphonies on two discs.  It was Marin Alsop's, which included the aforementioned Third Symphony that began to give music lovers hope that more was to come.  It has been a bit of a wait, but we now have the present release with recordings of two important symphonies from the early 1940s.  The earlier release was with the Colorado Symphony.  For this one, Marin Alsop returns to Bournemouth where she is conductor emeritus.  Alsop was a protégé of Bernstein, so no doubt gained a love for these pieces from someone who definitely understood their musical value.  Her sensitive performances are a welcome addition to the catalogue.   The disc opens with one of Harris' most powerful programmatic symphonies, subtitled "Gettysburg."  This sixth symphonic exercise has a truly cinematic scope that rises to the surface in its fascinating depiction of battle in its second movement titled "Conflict."  Musical tone painting is a hallmark of this work which begins quietly in "Awakening."  This opening movement features a perfect encapsulation of Harris' symphonic style with smaller motivic ideas presented out of a mass of swirling sound that grows in intensity.  There is an almost Sibelian quality to the way these motives swirl together for a long thematic line that closes off the movement (similar to Sibelius' Fifth Symphony).  The tension of war shifts into an elegiac third movement, "Dedication."  An arch-like formal structure gives the feel of a spun out melodic idea as the movement opens which gives way to a gorgeously scored central section with woodwinds and muted brass.  It is an interesting exercise in motivic and harmonic movement over a pedal point as well.  The concluding "Affirmation" brings brass to the forefront again in a massive triple fugue based on an earlier work of his (American Creed).  Reminiscent of the climactic moments of the Third, the soaring brass bring the work to a rousing conclusion.  The Sixth Symphony is one of American music's treasures.  It is a different sort of Americana than the one Copland was developing practically at the same time.  It is a work that illustrates the hybrid nature of mid-century American composers with a foot in tradition and in contemporary harmonic language that perhaps finds it parent in symphonists like Bruckner.  It is an important work with allegorical connotations to those who perhaps experienced it in such a way as World War II drove to a hopeful conclusion.   The Fifth Symphony hails from 1942.  This is the absolute music of symphonic writing with nothing to guide us except our own program.  But its numerical position suggests the potential for seriousness and Harris intended to reference the Russian's triumphal defeat of the Nazis.  The opening movement features a number of calls-to-arms and a rhythmic figure suggesting Beethoven's Seventh Symphony.  It is a rich textural opening that comes with great force, though seems to have a bit of difficulty wrapping up.  The central movement is cast in three sections beginning with a funeral march, moving into a central string section in search of a theme, and concluding with an almost chorale-like finish between brass and strings.  It is here where one recalls Shostakovich's symphonic struggle with World War II and a need to represent in music the terrors, hope, and ultimate overthrow of invasion.  Fate comes knocking in a four-note motif that appears in the opening bars of the final movement.  Then we are off and running as Harris moves through a series of fascinatingly orchestrated variations on this little motive culminating in a heroic conclusion reminiscent of Beethoven.   In addition to the two symphonies, the disc is rounded off with a recording of Acceleration from 1941.  The interest in this miniature is its condensed presentation of Harris' style.  It also would be recycled for the Sixth Symphony.  That might be the reason why American Creed was not added to this disc, though it would have been a worthy inclusion.  The 14-minute piece would have really filled out this disc.  No doubt it will appear soon if Alsop continues the survey of symphonic pieces.   The performance of the Sixth Symphony is simply amazing.  The Fifth is likewise a worthy recording and performance.  The shaping of thematic lines, while sometimes quite angular, tend to have a sensitivity that allows them to feel less disjointed than might otherwise be the case.  The orchestra seems to respond well to her direction in committed performances.  These are richly-recorded in a warm acoustic that allows for interior details to be heard.  The balance is truly fascinating.  If you listen carefully to the central portion of the Fifth Symphony's second movement, you can discern the various instrumental choirs vying within the texture.  There is a flute line that matches the strings at times that never is artificially enhanced allowing for the subtlety of the scoring to be greatly appreciated.   Any release of American symphonic music is an event to be celebrated.  There is only one other hard to find release of the Sixth from Albany Records featuring the Pacific Symphony with Keith Clark conducting.  Alsop's tempos are fairly close to Clark's though she takes slightly more time in "Conflict" and "Affirmation."  For the Fifth, you need to hunt down a re-issue of an old Louisville Orchestra recording (which is worth acquiring for the recording of Harris' Violin Concerto).  Alsop continues to provide fantastic performances regardless of the nationality of the music she espouses but here we have two important works worthy of attention.  Too often fans of American symphonic music are so happy to have a recording of this music that they will put up with anything.  Fortunately, Naxos is providing us with an opportunity to truly hear this music in committed performances given the same loving attention that we would expect from European masters.  Even casual listeners will find much to admire in the Sixth.  The rest is simply more of a wonderful thing.  Highly recommended! --MaestroSteve on Xanga, February 12, 2010Since the later 19th century, American composers have penned quite a lot of symphonies. And quite a few of them are worth hearing. But you'd never know that from the programming of U.S. orchestras, whose neglect of their symphonic heritage is a disgrace.Born two years before Copland, Roy Harris is remembered, if at all, for the Third of his 13 symphonies. But the Fifth and Sixth, both composed during World War II, are striking and accomplished works. They sound a bit like Copland in his Americana vein, but craggier. Harris often borrowed from his own music, and he mined the seven-minute overture Acceleration for material for the Sixth Symphony.Marin Alsop leads persuasive performances with England's Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (where she was preceded by Andrew Litton, before he came to Dallas). --The Dallas Morning News, Scott Cantrell, February 7, 2010There are those who still profess to admire the symphonies of Roy Harris, but admiration for the American composer's deeply heartfelt if equally deeply reactionary works was much more widespread during the late 1930s and 1940s, when his big tunes, warm harmonies, driving rhythms, and colorful scoring made him one of America's more popular classical composers. But styles change, and by the 1950s, big tunes were out and hardcore serialism was in, and the result was a marked falloff in Harris' popularity and productivity. Nevertheless, the composer's admirers will likely welcome this Naxos disc with Marin Alsop and the Bournemouth Symphony featuring his Fifth and Sixth symphonies, each of which has its merits. The Fifth  from 1942, is dedicated to "the heroic and freedom-loving people of our great ally, the Union of Soviet Republics," thus making it a sort of musical reply to Shostakovich's heroic Seventh from the same year. The Sixth  from two years later tries to capture the emotions the subtitle "Gettysburg" evokes. Alsop and the Bournemouth give what they have to Harris, although Alsop does not bring much more to the table than a competent technique, and the current Bournemouth Symphony cannot hold a candle to the orchestra's earlier incarnations. While this disc is unlikely to make new converts to the art of Roy Harris, it will probably please those who hold him to be a great composer. --AllMusic.com - Jim LeonardTo date, Naxos has issued Harris's Symphonies 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 9--the last two recorded by the National Orchestra of Ukraine under Theodore Kucher in 1999. I spent a week listening to them, giving Harris a generous chance to make his case. My sense, coming out this experience, is that he is a romantic impressionist who composes mainly musical essays rather than traditional symphonies. His goal seems to be to create sonic-emotional landscapes often made up of what amount to chorded backgrounds with counterpoint and complex and varied instrumental textures set against them to provide more emotional interest than this kind of music often has....Symphony No. 5 (1942) is a darker, heavier work--we are in the middle of World War II here--but the substance, particularly of the first two movements, is essentially melodrama, not tragedy. The third and final movement is a pleasant surprise, moving beyond melodrama to something more interesting that gets closer to the feel of Symphony No. 3, Harris's most effective voice. The orchestration of this movement, which includes visits by piano and both snare and bass drums, is also more complex than most which precedes it.Symphony No. 6 "Gettysburg," (1944) tells us it is now definitely time to write about war unless you are an unworldly aesthete, which none of our American romantic composers were. The Battle of Gettysburg is Harris's vehicle here for composing affirmative music for `our side' in World War II. It is martial and reflective in turn, maintaining a sober and thoughtful mood, especially its extended third movement (of four) called "Dedication." No militarism but no dark criticism of warlike man either. It is not clear what we are being urged to dedicate ourselves to here until the fourth and final movement, "Affirmation," where sunnier strings in a more confident sounding key appear to propose no more war. `Good luck with that,' we say, in brilliant hindsight, but it is the right thing to say if your overall disposition is, well affirmative. --Positive Feedback, Bob Neill, March 2010