Copland: Symphony No. 3 / Walker: Sinfonia No. 5
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AARON COPLAND / GEORGE WALKER
Copland: Symphony No. 3 / Walker: Sinfonia No. 5
London Symphony Orchestra, Antonio Pappano
[ LSO Live / CD ]
Release Date: Friday 5 June 2026
This item is only available to us via Special Order. We should be able to get it to you in 3 - 6 weeks from when you order it.
Aaron Copland's third symphony is a vast and beautiful work depicting sprawling landscapes, forceful intensity and the power of human resilience. Composed in the final days of World War II, it channels the spirit of a nation looking toward brighter horizons. The final movement features the composer's inspirational Fanfare for the Common Man, culminating in a triumphant finale of hope for the future.
George Walker's Sinfonia No 5 'Visions' was the composer's final work and stands as a protest against racial violence. Written as a tribute to the victims of the 2015 Charleston church shooting, this unrelentingly modernist piece is suffused with anger. Despite its restless energy and jagged harmonies, the music encourages reflection and captures Walker's richly communicative musical language and groundbreaking legacy.
Chief Conductor Sir Antonio Pappano and the London Symphony Orchestra bring two American masterworks to life in this new recording from LSO Live. Pappano brings out the rich colours and emotional depths of Copland's Symphony No 3 and Walker's Sinfonia No 5, celebrating the indomitable spirit of the music and the enduring legacy of these pivotal composers.
"Two sides of the American dime - or should that be dream …? Copland's glorious fanfare to all things stars and stripes (gosh how I love this symphony) and George Walker's stark reality check. Walker may be a new name to some but the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer scored many firsts as a black man and was still writing with vigour and rigour at 94 when this, his edgy Fifth Sinfonia, was written.
Copland's Third Symphony is so well suited to Pappano's temperament and dare I say it this live performance (which I attended) comes over even better on disc on account that its blockbusting excesses - and Pappano does not spare the decibels - tended to overplay Barbican Hall. Pappano's love of movie music colours so much in the piece setting forth with a first movement of wide-open spaces (open fifths rule) and sky-scraping heights. There's a steely resolve to it all and the LSO (post Bernstein and Tilson Thomas) are in their muscular element." Editor's Choice Gramophone
Tracks:
Copland: Symphony No. 3
1. Molto moderato, with simple expression
2. Allegro molto
3. Andantino quasi allegretto
4. Molto deliberato (freely, at first) - Fanfare; deliberato - Allegro risoluto - Deliberato
Walker: Sinfonia No. 5, "Visions"
5. Sinfonia No. 5, "Visions"
