London So/Friedel - American Symphonies - Walter Piston: Symphony No. 6, Samuel Jones: Symphony No. 3 (Palo Duro Canyon), Stephen Albert: Sy

On this recording, conductor Lance Friedel strikes a blow for three fellow American composers, with the help of the eminent London Symphony Orchestra. The disc opens with Walter Piston�s Symphony No. 6. It was completed in 1955, by which time many regarded Piston (1894-1976) as clinging to tradition in the face of modernism. When Samuel Jones (b.?1935) presented his Third Symphony �Palo Duro Canyon� in 1992, the pendulum was swinging back, however, and traditional music built of melody, harmony and rhythm was no longer considered hopelessly outdated. The work nevertheless begins in a rather non-traditional fashion with the recorded sound of the wind of the Texas plains, where the Palo Duro Canyon is situated. Jones�s slightly younger colleague Stephen Albert (1941-92) was just completing his Second Symphony when he was killed in a car accident. The work had been commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, and the orchestration of it was completed by Albert�s colleague and friend Sebastian Currier.