DAVID MASLANKA (b.1943): Symphony No. 7, DONALD GRANTHAM (b.1947): Court Music, ROBERT LINN (1925-1999): Concerto Grosso for Brass Trio, MICHAEL COLGRASS (b.1932): Bali, FRANK TICHELI (b.1958): Sanctuary.

Description: Maslanka's Symphony is described by the composer as 'old songs remembered'; the work is a celebration of folk tunes and hymns, though in fact his themes are his own. Bold, large-scale neo-Romanticism at its best, the music evokes Mahler here, Shostakovich there, Grainger somewhere else, the best of Hollywood all over the place, and ends up being just the sort of thing you hope to hear when you encounter a large wind symphony. This kind of tonal, colorful music is common to all the works here. Colgrass' Bali, on account of its use of Balinese modes has an immediately identifiable eastern feel, with its sumptuous instrumentation bearing some resemblance to Hovhaness. The serious central section is a lament in memory of the victims of the 2002 bombing in the capital. Grantham also evokes eastern music - that of Japan - in his atmospheric tone-poem, which suggests the timbres of traditional Japanese instruments. Linn's lively Concerto Grosso adheres to the forms of the traditional model; like the Ticheli it is instantly accessible and appealing. North Texas Wind Symphony; Eugene Migliaro Corporon.