One might wonder why this Naxos recording of the Ohio State University Wind Symphony under the direction of Russel C. Mikkelson is titled Southern Harmony: Music for Wind Band. Although there is a photograph of a vintage banjo on the front cover, the title Southern Harmony is only accorded to the Donald Grantham work; the work of Dmitry Kabalevsky -- a Russian -- is decidedly Eastern, whereas John Stevens -- based at the University of Wisconsin in Madison -- is Northern, Morton Lauridsen is Western. Aaron Copland's El Salon ...
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One might wonder why this Naxos recording of the Ohio State University Wind Symphony under the direction of Russel C. Mikkelson is titled Southern Harmony: Music for Wind Band. Although there is a photograph of a vintage banjo on the front cover, the title Southern Harmony is only accorded to the Donald Grantham work; the work of Dmitry Kabalevsky -- a Russian -- is decidedly Eastern, whereas John Stevens -- based at the University of Wisconsin in Madison -- is Northern, Morton Lauridsen is Western. Aaron Copland's El Salon Mexico is placed so far south it is more southerly than was meant by the Grantham piece, which is based on shape note music as printed in a collection under that general title in 1835. Indeed, the concept doesn't apply to the whole program; however, all of the music is very strong, reasonably contemporary, and is tightly played by this expert wind ensemble. Lauridsen's O Magnum Mysterium, quite well known in its incarnation as a choral piece, is heard in a splendiferous array of...
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