MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Hanson: Symphonies Nos 3 & 6 / Fantasy variations on a theme of Youth

Hanson created another reflective tribute to a previous generation in his 1951 Fantasy Variations on a Theme of Youth. The work, written for piano and string orchestra, commemorated the 100th anniversary of the founding of Northwestern University, where the composer had studied and served as an assistant teacher in 1915-1916.Hanson's stature as one of America's most important musical educators is a matter of record; but the indifference of a generation more excited by experimentation than Romanticism resulted in a widespread neglect of Hanson's music - a situation being rectified by more and more conductors today. No Hanson work is more ripe for rediscovery than the Symphony No. 3, composed between 1936 and 1938. Appropriately enough, the work was commissioned by a group especially supportive of American music, the CBS Symphony; like Hanson, who was not only a proliÞc composer but a seemingly inexhaustible educator and conductor, CBS was responsible for the performance of hundreds of new works by American composers. Six years had passed since Hanson's last symphony, the enormously popular 'Romantic' - the embodiment of Hanson's belief in 'emotional' music versus that of the 'cerebral' neo-classicists and serialists. 'Delos' most intriguing project is its Great American Composer Series, which got off to a flying start with a brilliant, impassioned reading of Howard Hanson's Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2. On tap are symphonies by tonal composersÑlike David Diamond, Walter Piston and Hanson - who were eclipsed during the onslaught of serialism.' - The New York Times Hanson's orchestral jewel, the Symphony No. 3, is among his most accessible music with its soaring melodies and rich scoring. Written six years after the 'Romantic' Symphony, it is a heartfelt tribute to the Swedish ancestry that played so great a role in his upbringing. This first-ever recording of the powerful Symphony No. 6 - - in six(!) short, dramatic movements - - provides the program's stirring climax. Placed between the two symphonies is the lovely one-movement Fantasy Variations on a Theme of Youth - Hanson's fond reminiscence celebrating the Centennial of his Alma Mater, Northwestern University. Rosenberger and Schwarz will continue this brilliant and lyrical collaboration with a recording of the Hanson Piano Concerto next year. Volume 1 of the Hanson Symphonies (DE 3073) is a tough act to follow with 3 Grammy Nominations / Record of the Year Award from Stereo Review / 41 weeks on the Billboard Chart of 25 top Classical Recordings, peaking at No. 3 'I recognize, of course, that romanticism is, at the present time, the poor stepchild, without the social standing of her elder sister, neoclassicism. Nevertheless, I embrace her all the more fervently, believing, as I do, that romanticism will find in this country rich soil for a new, young and vigorous youth.' - Howard Hanson
(Arkivmusic.com)