David L. Post’s Symphony No. 1 (1995) invites the listener in with its primarily tonal construction on traditional symphonic techniques. The music’s harmonic palette is reminiscent of the compositional style of many of the late-1960s and early-’70s television dramas–I’m thinking here of Marcus Welby MD, The FBI, and the like–meaning that anyone who grew up watching American television will feel a sense of familiarity with the music, and that’s not a bad thing at all. Similarly, listeners who know the music of Alban Berg will feel at home with Jerome David Goodman’s Violin Concerto (1995), especially the first movement. By the time the finale comes around, that rarefied air has been dissipated and intimations of Bartók have taken its place. Violinist Jana Herajinova makes the most of the technically challenging solo part (this stuff has to be hard to play in tune). Less challenging is George Barati’s Chant of Darkness (1993), which generates a static atmosphere reminiscent of the slow movement of Bartók’s Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta. As with other discs in this series, Valdimir Valek and the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra play this new American music like it’s baseball. MMC’s sound varies from thin and dry in the concerto to full and reverberant in Chant.
