AN OVERVIEW OF THREE AMERICAN CHORAL SYMPHONIES

by Davis, Derek M.

During the 20th century, serious composers in the United States increasingly wrote symphonies, and a few of these composers expanded the form with the use of chorus. Three key examples are Marc Blitzstein™s The Airborne Symphony, Peter Mennin™s Symphony No. 4 (“Cycle”), and Leonard Bernstein™s Symphony No. 3 (“Kaddish”). Although all three are choral symphonies each composer took a much different approach to the form. The paper will focus on analysis of these three symphonies and examination of their place in the history of the American symphony.