I was browsing thru the new music on Qobuz when I fell over this album… To be short: I urge you to listen to this, because this is (IMTUHO) the best classical music and the best classical recording I have ever heard…!
https://open.qobuz.com/album/zfi6ha8iu167b
Let me know what you think…
Wonderful!
Ives, while modern, is very listenable with wonderful musical jokes. I have not heard this recording, but the conductor, Gustavo Dudamel, has a propulsive style and sense of rhythm which drive music forward.
Just pulled this recording up on Roon (via Tidal/MQA FLAC file); giving it a go - thanks.
I also like his works…among American composers not far from his style you could also try Roy Harris and Aaron Copeland or certainly Leonard Bernstein.
Those also excellent sounding albums could be an entry:
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Next you might come around Latin American composers like those:
Welcome to the world of American classical music. Newbies have so much to explore and that includes living composers. Want to hear something truly fun and downright exciting? Try ‘Short Ride in a Fast Machine’ by John Adams. Your journey has barely begun and it’s going to be wonderful.
Great suggestion, it is a hoot.
Be sure to listen to the new 'cello concerto I posted in the YouTube thread. It is well worth a listen.
I also enjoy Ira Hearshen, his humourous playing with Sousa in “Symphony On Themes of John Philip Sousa” crack me up every time.
Another great American composer to add to your journey, Alan Hovhaness.
Where to begin. Hovhaness was utterly unique in combining his love of nature with mysticism. His output was prodigious. I was completely blown away (literally, you’ve got to hear it for yourself to understand) by his St. Helens Symphony No. 50. He had personally witnessed the explosive eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980. This gorgeous, bucolic work so typical of Hovhaness will knock you out of your seat as Hovhaness captured the ferocity of the sudden eruption. Yes, as all can tell from my post I believe Hovhaness to be one of the true giants of uniquely American classical music. Enjoy!
Yes, this also is “listenable” for a junior classic explorer like me…
Pfew, tried ths one, but that’s (still) too much for me to handle… 
It is a wonderful recording. It is now on my favorites list on Qobuz!
Wonderful! I want it, Is it available as recording already?
Yes, it is available. The recording pairs it with the Elgar concerto. The 'cellist performing it on YouTube commissioned the work and it was completed almost exactly 100 years after Elgar finished his 'cello concerto.
We got to hear Adams’ “Short Ride” performed by our Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra several years ago. It was great fun. They do (or did, before the pandemic) contemporary pieces quite often. One of my favorites was a performance of Jimmie (as guest conductor Marin Alsop called him) MacMillan’s “Confession of Isobel Gowdie.”
