To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy the National Symphony Orchestra presented a new work by Peter Lieberson called "Remembering JFK," an orchestral piece with movie star Richard Dreyfuss narrating excerpts from Kennedy's speeches. This CD includes that and previously unreleased pieces from Kennedy's 1961 Inaugural Concert. That concert includes Leonard Bernstein's "Fanfare for the Inauguration of John F. Kennedy" and "Symphonic Dances from 'West Side Story.' " Also included is George Gershwin's "Concerto in F."

Home of the Brave was recorded in honor of the deployed Airmen of the United States Air Force as a token of appreciation from a grateful nation. Several of the ensembles of the United States Air Force Band participated on this album, making it a well-rounded salute to the brave. The Ceremonial Brass, Max Impact, Singing Sergeants and Symphony Orchestra all collaborated on several of the pieces on this inspiring collection. Every song seeks to pay tribute to American heroes, evoking a feeling of patriotism and respect in each listener. The spirit and courage of those who inspired this album are what truly makes America the Home of the Brave.

West Point Band's Music Under the Stars is full of sweeping beautiful orchestration from the US Military Academy Concert Band. West Point has created a reputation for presenting serious concert music to their audience which is shown here with their exemplary mix of classical patriotic Broadway and concert style songs all accounted for.

This disc, superbly recorded in the Henry Wood Hall in Glasgow, makes a most welcome addition to Naxos’s growing collection of English music. In every way it provides formidable rivalry for the two excellent full-price Holst discs which substantially overlap with this in repertory – from Richard Hickox on Chandos and from Sir Adrian Boult on Lyrita in vintage performances from around 1970.

Like Hickox, Lloyd-Jones has as his two weightiest items the Hardy-inspired Egdon Heath, arguably Holst’s finest work, as well as the prelude and fugue, Hammersmith, comparably dark and intense. But where Hickox has the latter in its usual orchestral form, Lloyd-Jones chooses the wind-band version, achieving a subtlety of shading in phrasing and dynamic amply to justify that striking choice. The Chandos recording is sumptuous, but the Naxos sound is at least as vividly atmospheric, while letting one hear more inner detail, particularly important in the fugue.

As to interpretation, Hickox is a degree warmer in phrasing and more passionate in his build-up of climaxes, where Lloyd-Jones, generally adopting more flowing speeds closer to those of Boult, is more objective, while bringing out to the full the tenderness and refinement of the writing. Particularly beautiful is the performance of A Somerset Rhapsody which opens the disc, with the cor anglais solo ravishingly played. Boult of course has unique authority in this music, and the Lyrita analogue recordings – among the finest of their period – still sound superb, with clean focus and separation.

Yet quite apart from the intrinsic quality of Lloyd-Jones’s performances with the Scottish orchestra, and the formidable advantage of price, his grouping of works is more generous than that on either rival disc. The six works are neatly balanced, three dating from before the climactic period of The Planets and The Hymn of Jesus, and three after. Particularly valuable – and not included on either rival disc – is the atmospheric Invocation for cello and orchestra of 1911, rather dismissed by Imogen Holst, but here given a yearningly intense, deeply thoughtful performance with Tim Hugh as soloist.

A highly recommendable offering, whether for the dedicated Holstian or the newcomer wanting to investigate this composer’s more characteristic work outside The Planets.

-- Edward Greenfield, Gramophone [6/1998]

This much lauded series continues with a sequence of four premiere recordings played by the elite Illinois State University Wind Symphony. Roy Magnuson's House Plants in Terracotta Pots is described by the composer 'as a simple statement of something simply thought.' Sydney Hodkinson's expressive Duae Cantatae Breves explores the slow and meditative potential of the wind band. Jayce John Ogren's richly imagined and poetic Evening Music is followed by Francesco José Martínez Gallego's exciting, monumental Sinfonía No. 1 'Kaprekar'.

This selection is a High Definition Compatible Digital (HDCD) recording.

"Fennell catches cool dance rhythms, delicate neatness, and British propriety very nicely. The Dallas Wind Symphony and the engineering are terrific, and Fennell's liner notes are literate, informative and personal." -- Gil French, CITY (Rochester, NY)

"Perhaps most remarkable is the absolute rightness of his tempo choices: One can't imagine one of these marches going even the slightest bit slower or faster. The Dallas ensemble plays superbly and the sound is phenomenal. We get the immediacuy and visceral excitement of Fennell's Mercury recordings, the weight and atmosphere of the Cleveland Symphonic Wind performances on Telarc, plus a level of detail and ease of presentation that's state-of-the-art." -- Andrew Quint, THE ABSOLUTE SOUND