Your 10 favorite American symphony composers

[Symphonic Addict]

What of these composers represent your  musical lendings, what you consider worth mentioning on this thread according to your tastes?

I'd say these:

George Antheil
Samuel Barber
Aaron Copland
Paul Creston
David Diamond
Howard Hanson
Alan Hovhaness
Peter Mennin
Christopher Rouse
William Schumann

Richard Danielpour, Jack Gallagher, Aaron Jay Kernis and Kevin Puts are other quite promising who are ascending in popularity. Stephen Albert died too young. A pity.

[Daverz]

Sessions
Diamond
Piston
Randall Thompson
William Schuman
Irving Fine
Harold Shapero
Persichetti
Lees
Mennin
Flagello
Helps
Rosner

[Symphonic Addict]

Sessions
Diamond
Piston
Randall Thompson
William Schuman
Irving Fine
Harold Shapero
Persichetti
Lees
Mennin
Flagello
Helps
Rosner

Good choices! Shapero's Symphony for Classical Orchestra is a quite characteristic work. Diamond and Thompson are worth mentioning and I could include them as well. His quasi last-namesake Thomson was much less succesful in my humble opinion. Persichetti is totally unknown to me, so are Lees and Helps.

[Mirror Image]

What a difficult question! I'm not sure I can give 10 but here's a few of my favorite American symphonists:

Copland
Barber
Ives
Schuman
Diamond
Hanson
Bernstein
Harrison

And that's really it. There's many of them that wrote a few good ones, but these listed are the ones I keep coming back to.

[Daverz]

Good choices! Shapero's Symphony for Classical Orchestra is a quite characteristic work. Diamond and Thompson are worth mentioning and I could include them as well. His quasi last-namesake Thomson was much less succesful in my humble opinion. Persichetti is totally unknown to me, so are Lees and Helps.

I'm not sure the Youtube sound is doing it any favors, but here is the first movement of Helps Symphony No. 1:

https://www.youtube.com/v/VhI_98Zfrn0

First movement of Rochberg's Symphony No. 2:

https://www.youtube.com/v/aUyTghXo-Ts

[Brian]

Piston 2
Thompson 2
Albert 2
Still 1 "Afro-American"
Barber 1
Rouse 2-5
Jones 3 "Palo Duro Canyon"
Ives 2

[kyjo]

If you don't mind, Cesar, I think I'll follow Brian's lead and name my top 10 American symphonies rather than symphonists since that's easier for me (although there is probably already a thread for the former ). I'm also gonna leave out the two rather "obvious" ones, Barber 1 and Copland 3:

Creston 2
Dawson Negro Folk Symphony
Diamond 3
Hanson 3
Jones 3 Palo Duro Canyon
Piston 2
Powell Virginia Symphony
Schuman 3
Shapero Symphony for Classical Orchestra
Thompson 2

Runner-ups: Antheil 4, Beach Gaelic, Bernstein 1 Jeremiah, Gallagher 2 Ascendant, Harris 3, Hovhaness 50 Mount St. Helens, Ives 1, Mennin 5, Puts 2, Still 2 Song of a New Race

I need to investigate the symphonies of Albert, Flagello, Kernis, Lees, Persichetti, Rochberg, Rosner, and Rouse more thoroughly!

[vandermolen]

Hanson
Harris
Diamond
Bernstein
Copland
Kurka
Barber
Antheil
Creston
Schuman

[Symphonic Addict]

I'm not sure the Youtube sound is doing it any favors, but here is the first movement of Helps Symphony No. 1:

https://www.youtube.com/v/VhI_98Zfrn0

First movement of Rochberg's Symphony No. 2:

https://www.youtube.com/v/aUyTghXo-Ts

Thanks, Daverz. I'll be checking these.

[Symphonic Addict]

If you don't mind, Cesar, I think I'll follow Brian's lead and name my top 10 American symphonies rather than symphonists since that's easier for me (although there is probably already a thread for the former ). I'm also gonna leave out the two rather "obvious" ones, Barber 1 and Copland 3:

Creston 2
Dawson Negro Folk Symphony
Diamond 3
Hanson 3
Jones 3 Palo Duro Canyon
Piston 2
Powell Virginia Symphony
Schuman 3
Shapero Symphony for Classical Orchestra
Thompson 2

Runner-ups: Antheil 4, Beach Gaelic, Bernstein 1 Jeremiah, Gallagher 2 Ascendant, Harris 3, Hovhaness 50 Mount St. Helens, Ives 1, Mennin 5, Puts 2, Still 2 Song of a New Race

I need to investigate the symphonies of Albert, Flagello, Kernis, Lees, Persichetti, Rochberg, Rosner, and Rouse more thoroughly!

It doesn't matter, Kyle. It works so good that way too. 

[MusicTurner]

-Hovhaness (also based on some of the lesser known ones, such as Majnun)
-Rochberg
-Schuman
-Ives

- the rest

I'm not familiar enough with those of Diamond, Sessions and Piston though, three other good candidates, and some of those by Gloria Coates tend to have too many glissandi, but she might be there as well ...

[Sergeant Rock]

Ives
Bernstein
Diamond
Harris
Antheil
Mennin
Hanson
Schuman
Barber
Lowell Liebermann

[Karl Henning]

Bernstein
Copland
Flagello
Gallagher (disclosure: I was a student of Jack's)
Hanson
Hovhaness
Mennin
Persichetti (though I really only know his Symphony for Band, which IMO wins his place here)
Rosner
Schuman

[springrite]

Mennin
Harris
Piston
Ives
Barber
Copland
Persichetti
Rochberg
Schuman
Hanson

[Daverz]

Gallagher (disclosure: I was a student of Jack's)

I should have included Gallagher for the Symphony No. 2 alone.

[springrite]

Mennin
Harris
Piston
Ives
Barber
Copland
Persichetti
Rochberg
Schuman
Hanson

I forgot David Diamond, which is unforgivable. Diamind replaces Rochberg.

[foxandpeng]

Hm.

Antheil
Hanson
Hovhaness
Rouse
Piston
Diamond
Barber
Mennin
Maslanka
Glass

The obvious missing contenders could easily make an appearance on another day.

[Karl Henning]

Hm.

Antheil
Hanson
Hovhaness
Rouse
Piston
Diamond
Barber
Mennin
Maslanka
Glass

The obvious missing contenders could easily make an appearance on another day.

Which of Rouse's symphonies would you say us his best, Dannie?

[foxandpeng]

Which of Rouse's symphonies would you say us his best, Dannie?

I particularly like 2... or 5...

As for 'best'... well, I am a bit thick to make such an assessment 😁

[Karl Henning]

I particularly like 2... or 5...

As for 'best'... well, I am a bit thick to make such an assessment 😁

I could not, in fairness, stipulate any such thing, and I consider you to have answered the query satisfactorily.