As long as we're discussing great American symphonies (which is "the
greatest," I'll leave to others--it's like picking your "best" child),
I would like to speak up for Ives' 4th.

To me, it definitely puts the other Ives symphonies in the shade, with its
endlessly fascinating intricacies, balanced by the sonorously fugue-ish
third movement. As an American symphony, it falls short of expressing the
whole American scene, of course, since Ives was so strongly rooted in New
England. Of course, New Englanders did spread out and greatly influence the
frontier as it moved westward, but you need to balance Ives with someone
like Harris to get a fair representation of the West. (I can't think
offhand of a great Southern symphony, but maybe someone else can.)

The CD I currently have is Michael Tilson Thomas with the Chicago SO: Sony
SK 44939. I think it's a very good performance, but, as always, someone is
bound to disagree.

Jon Johanning // [log in to unmask]