This is an enterprising collection of American music of the 1950s, persuasively played and well recorded. The greatest rarity is what seems to be Menotti's first orchestral work, Apocalypse (1951—the date in the booklet is a misprint). This rather unbalanced three-movement work, with a first movement the length of the other two put together, is full of orchestral colour and excitement. It comes from the period of Menotti's greatest operatic successes and makes an excellent vehicle for the Oregon Symphony under DePreist.
Ronald LoPresti (1933–86) is practically unknown. The Masks was written when he was a student at Eastman, Rochester. The Director Howard Hanson, took the piece up with his own Eastman-Rochester Symphony Orchestra and recorded it in the famous Mercury series of LPs in 1956. LoPresti had two other pieces recorded in 1959/60 and that seems to have been that. This recording of The Masks is his first CD. The first of the two movements starts with the hushed calm of Barber's Adagio for strings: the more vigorous writing here and in the other works on this CD is a reminder that in the 1950s Hindemith was a force to be reckoned with. LoPresti has more eloquence than individuality but the commitment of the performance brings this early piece out of obscurity.
The Meditations on Ecclesiastes is Dello Joio's most celebrated work—he got a Pulitzer Prize for it in 1957. It was commissioned as a ballet for Jose Limon and one can imagine this effortlessly natural writing for string orchestra, illustrating various aspects of the biblical text coming off well in the theatre. Dello Joio's family came from Italy in a line of church organists. The Italian influence shows in his melodic approach, and his effortless fluency is a reminder of his studies with Hindemith at Yale. These two strands unite to create a music of refreshing predictability.'