First Symphony & Bath Country Rhapsody

Features of First Symphony & Bath Country Rhapsody

Highlighting this recording is Ward s First Symphony, written in 1942 when he was a graduate student in composition and conducting at Juilliard. This was his first work to bring him national attention with a critic noting that ...he has the gift for the lyric line...strong melodic expression is supported by an active and resourceful imagination for contrapuntal design, by a great talent for rhythmic variety....The sum of these excellencies is greatness. Ward comments: In the years after the war I have written many works for diverse media and under other influences. Looking back I hope these efforts might still merit the high praise that critic Glenn Dillard Gunn gave my First Symphony.