Czech Nonet

This wonderful Praga Digitals release is a great way to musically discover their back catalogue recordings. This compilation presents a great opportunity to become more familiar with major and lesser-known Russian composers’ works.

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.”