LEO SOWERBY (1895-1968): The Canticle of the Sun, WILLIAM SCHUMAN (1910-1992): A Free Song, AARON COPLAND (1900-1990): Appalachian Spring.

Description: Three of the first four winners of the music Pulitzer Prize: Schuman's 13-minute Whitman setting from 1943 is marked by blocks of dissonant counterpoint but is much more approachable than his late symphonies would become while Sowerby's 1946 winner is a 32 minute setting of Matthew Arnold's translation of St. Francis of Assisi's famous poem. It can be as fiery and engulfing as the object in its title but it is quite tonal and combines shattering climaxes with almost ethereal quiet passages. Texts included. Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus;  Carlos Kalmar.