On the topic of David Matthews, I enjoyed his recent 9th Symphony from this recording very much:
Colorful and accessible music in the great British symphonic tradition.
I listened to the Ninth (and Eighth) for the first time ever this afternoon and 9 might based on that one listening be in my personal top two or three symphonies by living composers. I need to listen to the rest of the Matthews cycle, clearly. Nine is structured really interestingly - starting so simply and happily, building to such power and emotion, and then an ending which is almost really really exciting but then pulls back slightly to be emotional instead.
I tweeted at the conductor, Kenneth Woods, that I think Matthews is the best living writer of
fast music for orchestra. This might not be the case on reflection (Kalevi Aho and Gabriela Lena Frank come to mind now) but wait, no, maybe it is true.