Customer Reviews

The Great American Ninth - Roy Harris: Symphony No. 9 / Symphony No. 8

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I've been waiting a long time to hear a Harris symp. after the beloved #7, so I am hard put to say anything else, except thank you. Movements fire off immediately with next page, so stand back and don't get into the way of the momentum. Most raves are about the brasses in Harris works, but just listen to those string parts! One flaw in this CD package is that it is a bit much hearing both symps. back to back (in reversed order!) with nothing to separate them. I concentrated on #8 first, then #9. The Harris amplified piano is a much-loved element now and allows a wonderful final this-is-it sustained chord and terminal note at the end of #8. Hurrah for Albany Symphony and let's have some more great stuff from this wonderful composer.

Roy Harris' leisurely-paced, "rambling Western" style is highlighted by three glorious pieces. "Memories of a Child's Sunday" is his most simply-structured orchestral work--and one of his most light-hearted also. Here we are also lucky to have world premiere recordings of two of his later symphonies: Symphony No. 8 ("San Francisco") and Symphony No. 9, each written in the early 1960s. Harris the man may have aged, but Harris the composer definitely has not. Besides his Third Symphony (which may be the finest symphony in the American genre) and his Seventh Symphony, the Eighth and Ninth offer some of Harris' richest orchestral textures. Exquisitely played; wonderful amplified piano sound in the "San Francisco." Fans of Harris' music must purchase this immediately.

Poor Roy Harris -- we always hear how Shostakovich is a great Russian composer who was opposed by the Comunist leadership, but in fact he got a lot more promotion from his government than Harris got from his. Harris had solid "American" credentials -- born on Lincoln's Birthday in a log cabin, etc. -- but was mercilessly persecuted during the McCarthy era for his wartime dedication of his Fifth Symphony to the Red Army (our ally at the time) and it seems he never overcame it. To top that off, the musical establishment either ridiculed him as too "old fashioned" (translation: tonal music during the 50s) or held his success during the 30s against him. Here, then, is a composer whose style and history parallels that of Shostokovich without garnering the respect the latter holds today. Perhaps his music is not of the same quality, but I personally believe that not to be the case. These performances are of surprisingly high quality and the same goes for the recording. I urge anyone who considers themself a fan of American music to sample this. One cannot claim to be knowledgeable about American symphonic music and not know these works. At the same time, it is a shame that there apparently is not a complete recorded traversal of Harris symphonies.

In case it wasn't clear, this is highly recommended. Harris's Third Symphony is still available in several classic recordings; if you are familiar with that and like it, you will like this as well. These same forces have recently tackled the Second Symphony (in a spectacular recording) and there are current recordings of the 4th (not in the same league, in my opinion), 5th, 6th, and 7th (perhaps the finest of the symphonies yet recorded). Harris continued composing symphonies up until the American Bicentennial, but his "liberal" philosophy probably contributed to the damning reviews the later works received. I hope to hear them all someday.

I was a bit let down by the ninth symphony, considering the vamp it is given on the cover, being the GREAT American ninth. It did not amount to great. It wasn't exactly bad either, just... average. Harris most certainly wrote better symphonies. The third, fifth, and seventh are indeed hallmarks of his symphonic career (you'd think with the odd symphony numbering the ninth would join the ranks also). The ninth could be The Mediocre American Symphony. It is themed after the Gettysburg address, so it gets the American qualification. However, it's not in the familiar Copland or Grofe American style, but it doesn't have to be to be American. It is Harris, but it's doodling Harris, Harris not going anywhere in particular, not finding a great climax or any great theme. It doesn't have to be climatic or have a great theme to be great, but the ninth doesn't qualify as "great".

The eight is a bit more appealing, being broken up into more shorter sections. Here Harris clearly gets his ideas across in each movement. The gem, I feel, on this CD is the Child's Sunday. These three works are captivating, somewhat in the way Hovhaness' music is, but still retaining Harris' trademark style.

But as for the "Great American Ninth," I'm not sure America has one. Most composers never got to nine. David Diamond wrote one, which I haven't heard. So did Hovhaness, which I have also not heard. Naxos recently produced the first recording of William Schuman's ninth. Nice, but also not the "great" symphony. Perhaps in America we should stick with our thirds instead of our ninths: Schuman's, Harris', Copland's, Hanson's, Ives', Piston's... works all deserving of the "great" title.

I am now happily in possession of two quality versions of Roy Harris' Nineth Symphony: one by the National Symphony Orchestra of the Ukraine with Theodore Kuchar (Naxos) and the version here by the Albany Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Alan Miller.

For me, Roy Harris' Nineth is one of those wonderfully complex works that cannot absorbed with one session and so, I find something new almost every time I listen to it.

I have heard the critique of Roy Harris that his Symphony's often lack smooth transistions; that they are 'sectional' and that certainly seems to be the case with the Nineth. The second movement settles into a sequence which feels repititious and which seems to lack purpose but it leads into a marvelous trumpet solo and we all know what Harris can do with trumpets and tympani. The result is that I feel almost to blame for concluding a lack of purpose in the first place.

The bottom line is that I feel compelled to listen again and again and again for both the enjoyment and curiosity with regard to the question of what makes a symphony "great". And, I go through the same same process with all of Harris' works including the Symphony 8 here and my favorite - the Seventh on the Naxos American Classics Naxos label.

Although these are not among Roy Harris's best works, they do deserve a hearing and I'm glad they are on CD. I would prefer more fervent advocacy of these works on the part of David Alan Miller and the Albany Symphony. To be sure, they turn solid performances recorded in fabulous sound by the Albany Records engineers; but these works probably require more interpretive help from conductor to make their full impact. I would like to have heard what someone like Leonard Bernstein would have made of them. Under the baton of the a great conductor, they may have sounded like masterpieces. The best work on the program is the Ninth Symphony. Although it lacks the masterful cohesiveness of Harris' masterpiece, the Third Symphony, it has its moment, and the atmosphere or the work is pure Harris. The Eight Symphony rambles a bit and never quite equals the sum of its parts.

As several reviewers of The Great American Ninth CD have written, this is a fine recording, with two lovely Harris works that have not been widely available: Memories of a Child's Sunday and Symphony No. 8 - San Francisco, together with a lyrical interpretation of Harris's Ninth. However, the labeling of the MP3 tracks is incorrect and, if not fixed, this will result in a rather confusing musical listening experience. The correct order should be: Tracks 1-3, Memories of a Child's Sunday; Tracks 4-6, Ninth Symphony; Tracks 7-11, Symphony No. 8 (a one-movement piece in five parts.) The parts/movements are in the proper order within the revised track ranges. References in the reviews indicate that the CD (which I do not have) has the tracks properly marked. Only the MP3 files need to be relabeled.