A reissue of recordings made in the early '90s for Delos, this Naxos album adds to David Diamond's representation in the acclaimed American Classics series, and reaffirms his status after years of unjust and incomprehensible neglect. Diamond's concert suite from the ballet TOM, based on Uncle Tom's Cabin, and This Sacred Ground, a setting of "Lincoln's Gettysburg Address," are pure Americana. In these celebratory works, Diamond's open-hearted music is readily accessible, enjoyable, and moving. No preparation is needed to appreciate Diamond's diatonic harmonies, straightforward melodies, and lean counterpoint. The Symphony No. 8, however, is a tougher piece to grasp since its language is partly derived from serial methods, and its rhetoric is not immediately apparent. Yet this symphony is far from unintelligible, for Diamond's overriding sense of melody gives the work a flowing quality, and his firm orchestration gives the music shape and clarity. While this piece is not overtly nationalistic, it is nonetheless a seriously argued essay in the robust American tradition, and no more difficult than
Copland's or Schuman's works in a similar vein. The
Seattle Symphony, directed by
Gerard Schwarz, is fully committed in all three works, as might be expected from such stalwart champions of Diamond's music. Remastered in 2004, the recording is vivid and clear.