Roy Harris Symphony No. 7 (Ormandy, 1955)

Roy Harris: Symphony No. 7 (1952) Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy Recorded October 23, 1955, in the Academy of Music, Philadelphia. Issued in 1956 as Side 1 of Columbia Masterworks ML-5095 (from LP matrix XLP 36793), coupled with a transfer of Koussevitzky's 1934 recording of Harris' "Symphony 1933" with the Boston Symphony Orchestra (originally released as Masterworks Set No. 191). I do not have the original issue of ML-5095, however; what I have is the Columbia Special Products reissue from the 1960s, CML-5095, which comes in a generic cover with a cut-through window for the record label. The Seventh Symphony is in one movement, marked "Tempo giusto" (but with a gradual acceleration throughout) and basically consists of a large theme-and-variations design, with three different themes (in different meters) that are varied. There are four main sections, which can be delineated by these meter changes, with the first section longer than the others combined: (0:08) 3/2 time (Passacaglia rhythm); theme A with five variations. (10:58) meter change to 11/8; theme B (oboe) introduced at (11:27). (13:35) meter change to 2/2; theme C introduced at (13:46). (15:49) meter change to 9/4; theme A returns in brass. A short Coda in 4/2 time begins at (18:24).