Schuman,W. / Schwarz / Seattle Symphony Symphonies 4 & 9 CD

This is the opening salvo of Naxos's planned series of William Schuman's ten symphonies, central to a career in which the brassy energy of his music made him a leading figure in American music for over three decades. The Fourth Symphony, premiered some six weeks after Pearl Harbor, is an optimistic piece with a slow movement both warm and sad and outer movements capped by dense textures and blazing brass. The Ninth is subtitled "The Ardeatine Caves," reflects the composer's thoughts on a visit to that site of a Nazi World War II atrocity. It's a much tougher piece than the Fourth, the three continuous movements encapsulating a cascade of fast-changing ideas and brass and percussion-laden climaxes. Two brief works separate the symphonies: the catchy folk-based Orchestral Song, and the brightly energetic Circus Overture, originally intended for a Broadway revue. Schwarz and his orchestra deliver stylishly apt performances of all these works, making one look forward to the rest of the series.

1. 72 2. Tenderly, Simply 3. 144 4. Orchestra Song 5. Circus Overture 6. Anteludium 7. Offertorium 8. Postludium