Yannatos: Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra, Prisms – Piston: Symphony No. 3

This release fills a hole in the catalog large enough to drive a truck through. This is the world premiere stereo release, the world premiere CD release of Walter Piston's Third Symphony. The only recording of this serious, somber, most beautiful of Mr. Piston's symphonies was made almost fifty years ago by Howard Hanson for Mercury. The Symphony is dedicated to the memory of Natalie Koussevitsky. It is particularly appropriate for Jimmy Yannatos and the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra to bring us this important music because Piston was closely associated with Harvard throughout his life. He attended Harvard as an undergraduate, joined the faculty in 1926, and became a full professor in 1944, remaining at Harvard for many years. It is also just as fitting that this disc contains the work of another American composer closely associated with Harvard, James Yannatos, who has conducted the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra since 1964. Those who are familiar with Yannatos' other works on Albany Records will know what to expect from this fine composer. His Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra was written for the Mendelssohn String Quartet while the composer was on a sabbatical leave from Harvard during February to June 1995. The Symphony No. 3 was commissioned by Joel Spiegelman in 1989 for concerts he was to conduct in the former Soviet Union with the Lithuanian State Symphony. Many customers will buy this CD because of the Piston Third, but they will be most pleasantly surprised at the bonuses presented to them by the music of Yannatos. His music is a perfect compliment to the music of Piston.