It's good to have a real actor doing Lincoln Portrait again, to hear someone who can give a long sentence a single arch of phrasing, who enunciates with great clarity (even before he gets to the line you know that Jones will pronounce both 'f's in ''a new birth of freedom'') and who has obviously thought out his interpretation of the text. ''Government of the people, by the people and for the people''—he emphasizes ''people'' each time, not the conventional ''of'', ''by'' and ''for''. Schwarz is no less alert and thoughtful, giving the Portrait's vigorous dance music and its bold gestures as much emphasis as its solemnity. What a pity Jones is placed so very far forward in the recorded perspective: he dwarfs the orchestra, even when barely raising his voice.
But it's also a pleasure to have the Portrait more thoughtfully coupled than has sometimes been the case. The Fanfare for the Common Man makes an obvious prelude, but the rarely heard Canticle of Freedom (a setting of lines from Barbour's The Bruce) is an attractive occasional piece, its lyrical aspiration and dancing jubilance given sharpness by Copland's use of percussion to articulate phrases, its rather plain choral lines (it was written for a student choir) rising to bold eloquence. The ebullient Outdoor Overture is 'occasional' Copland too, no doubt, but the warm serenity that punctuates it is also a reminder of how close the idea of 'outdoors' is to the American definition of freedom.
Roy Harris's American Creed expresses belief in only two freedoms: to dream (an arching string theme is warmly developed, a more florid and more energetic mood ensues, the melody plangently returns) and to build (grand and complex counterpoint in Harris's noblest vein). The overture on When Johnny comes marching home is resourceful and by no means an uninterrupted essay in exuberance (Harris said that his father used to go to work whistling the tune cheerfully, but more reflectively on the way back in the evening). A likeable collection, in short, especially useful to those who've been trying to find something by Roy Harris that can be set beside his Third Symphony without being dwarfed. Excellent performances, well-recorded, apart from the close-up on James Earl Jones and a patch or two of slight congestion when Harris gives his contrapuntal skill its head.'