LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

"5 out of 5 stars: Harbach’s music continues to impress in these three nicely contrastive symphonies. Harbach’s musical language, although decidedly locatable geographically as American, is distinctive. There is an assurance, and often a lightness, that is most refreshing... All the detail is brilliantly reproduced in MSR’s recording... Harbach’s imagination is vast, [but] she marshals it through real compositional discipline... Throughout, conductor David Angus shows real understanding of Harbach’s scores, and the LPO responds in kind... the sound here is absolutely top-notch. Most importantly, though, Harbach’s music continues to impress in these three nicely contrastive symphonies."

Colin Clarke, Fanfare [September 2024]

"5.0 out of 5 stars: 3 Fine new symphonies by Barbara Harbach. Barbara Harbach continues to demonstrate her considerable abilities as one of America’s most accomplished composers.... Harbach’s music is imaginative, skillfully constructed, and very much in the tradition of earlier American symphonists like Roy Harris, Walter Piston, and perhaps most strongly, Aaron Copland... Although she composes in that tradition, Harbach’s voice is her own. Her orchestral colors are brighter and more shimmering than most, her structures more compact... Harbach is also a melodist; she writes big, striding themes that stay in the memory, and she sometimes incorporates existing melodies... These three programmatic symphonies, completed in 2022, together demonstrate that it is still possible to say something fresh in a traditional mode... she writes music that is dramatic, picturesque, and attractive. David Angus and the London Philharmonic have long been champions of her work, and serve them well here, as does the high quality of the recording itself."

Henry Fogel, Fanfare [October 2024]

"Five stars: Three magnificent symphonies by a well-regarded living woman composer. What does Barbara Harbach’s music sound like? First, it’s distinctively American. It doesn’t really sound like Aaron Copland’s, but there’s a similar “Americana” flavor... It’s given a beautifully inspired treatment by her long-time collaborator David Angus and the London Philharmonic, and the first-rate recorded sound gives full measure to Harbach’s gifts for orchestral color and complexity. Recommending Harbach’s Volume 18 might be problematical only because, once you listen to it, you’ll almost certainly want to hear more, and that could get expensive."

Mark Gabrish Conlan, Fanfare [October 2024]

"Four stars. It’s always a pleasure to encounter Barbara Harbach’s compositions. They feature attractive thematic material, often in the form of extended, lovely melodies. Harbach manipulates that material in assured and compelling fashion, couched in her trademark colorful, pleasing, and transparent orchestrations... The London Philharmonic, conducted by David Angus, play the symphonies with the unanimity and tonal richness one would expect. The recorded sound is excellent. Recommended."

Ken Meltzer, Fanfare [October 2024]

"4 stars – Programmatic, recent symphonies that make a positive impression.
I’ve been wanting to hear Barbara Harbach’s music for some time now and then this arrived to satisfy that itch... competently composed music in a tonal idiom that delights the ears... Symphony No.14 [is] a fine symphony... David Angus, no stranger to Harbach’s orchestral music, conducts it all expertly and the London PO is captured in great sonics. I am glad to have finely been exposed to the music of Barbara Harbach and look forward to future encounters."

Mark Novak, Fanfare [October 2024]

  Barbara Harbach has a large catalog of works, including symphonies, operas, works for string and chamber ensemble, choral anthems, ballet, musicals and film scores. She has also composed music for organ, harpsichord and piano and has arranged numerous Baroque works for brass and organ. A gifted performer as well, Harbach has toured extensively as both an organist and harpsichordist throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia. Her lively performances and recordings have captured the imagination of many American composers; the body of work written for and dedicated to her is substantial. Harbach is also heavily involved in the research, editing, publication and recording of manuscripts of 18th-century keyboard composers, as well as historical and contemporary women composers. Also a prolific recording artist, Harbach can be heard on more than a dozen albums on MSR Classics, Naxos Records, Gasparo Records, Kingdom Records, Albany Records, Northeastern Records and Hester Park. Harbach, who serves as editor of the WomenArts Quarterly Journal, initiated Women in the Arts−St. Louis, a celebration of the achievements of women creators. More than 800events by cultural organizations in the St. Louis region have provided audiences with new and historical examples of the work of women writers, composers and artists. In recognition of this, she received the Arts Education Award from the Missouri Arts Council, the Missouri Citizen for the Arts Award, the Yellow Rose Award from the Zonta International Club of St. Louis and the Faculty Excellence Award from the College of Fine Arts and Communication at the University of Missouri St. Louis. The winner of numerous awards and honors, Harbach received the Hellenic Spirit Foundation Award, Grand Center Visionary Award for “Successful Working Artist,” Argus Foundation Award and YWCA Leader of Distinction Award in the Arts. She was recently named National Arts Associate Distinguished Member of the Buffalo Chapter of SAI, and one of the “30 Most Innovative Women Professors Alive Today”. Harbach is also the recipient of an honorary doctorate in music,  Honoris Causa, from Wilmington College in Ohio for her achievements as a composer, performer, editor and publisher. Currently a Curators’ Distinguished Professor Emerita of Music at the University of Missouri−St. Louis, Harbach holds a Bachelor’s degree from Pennsylvania State University, a Master’s degree from Yale University, a Konzertdiplom from the Musikhochschule of Frankfurt, Germany, and a Doctorate from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York.

Born in England, David Angus spent his early years in Belfast. He was a boy  chorister at King’s College, Cambridge, under Sir David Willcocks, and read music at Surrey University where he specialized as a pianist. He finished his training with a Fellowship in Conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, where he won several prizes for his opera conducting. In the United States, Angus has appeared with the Utah Symphony and San Antonio Symphony, in Canada with the Calgary Philharmonic, and in the United Kingdom with many of their major orchestras, including the Royal Philharmonic, Hallé Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Ulster Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and  Northern Sinfonia. He appears regularly with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and London Mozart Players, both in concert and in the studio, and also conducts across Europe, particularly in Denmark and in Scandinavia, where he is a regular guest with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra. Angus is Music Director of Boston Lyric  Opera and Honorary Conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of Flanders, following several successful years there as Principal Conductor. He is heard frequently on BBC Radio 3 and on stations in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, The Netherlands, Ireland and Italy.

  BARBARA HARBACH
SYMPHONY NO.12 “TEMPUS FUGIT”
I. Fall – Frolic
II. Spring – Scherzo
III. Summer – Shimmer
IV. Winter – Whimsy

SYMPHONY NO.13 “THE JOURNEY”
I. Perilous Journey
II. Christmas in Philadelphia
III. London Days
IV. America, the Promised Land

SYMPHONY NO.14 “PIONEER WOMEN”
I. I Am a Pioneer!
II. A Woman Ought Not
III. Complexity
IV. Then Peace



MSR Classics