In contemporary American composition, as in the classical repertory, there is a standard style. Among its characteristics are a cool, outdoorsy kind of counterpoint that is dissonant but not harsh, an energetic rhythm that is neither brawny nor strikingly brainy, and a kind of melody that is homely, and sometimes even folksy. In short, it is middle-of-the-way modernity—and it predominates in the first release of Columbia's new Modern American Music Series (6 LPs).
Two works are standouts: pioneering Modernist Charles Ives's Piano Sonata No. 1 (1902-09) and Aaron Copland's Sextet for String Quartet,...