Composer Harold Shapero was one of a number of young composers from Boston who formed the vanguard of American Neo-Classicism.

This disc collects five of his works for large ensemble composed between 1945 and 1960, and continues BMOP/sounds mission of preserving the masterworks of the 20th century. Sinfonia in C Minor opens the CD, originally written as an overture entitled The Travelers for the Houston Symphony. Credo For Orchestra was a Louisville Orchestra commission.

Pianist Vivian Choi joins BMOP on Partita in C. On Green Mountain premiered alongside works by composers such as Gunther Schuller and Milton Babbitt at the 1957 Brandeis Festival of the Arts.

The earliest work on this disc, Serenade in D for String Orchestra is an ambitious work in scope and length for the young composer.

REVIEWS

Listeners of an adventurous bent may be inclined to seek out this unusual and little-known music, recorded here in wide-ranging surround sound.
- CLASSICAL CD CHOICE
This eighty-four-minute release enjoys excellent performances, reproduction, and presentation. - COLINS COLUMN
In the end this is a valuable exploration
of a composer we need to recognize and rehear. Rose and BMOP give us ideal readings of these five worthy pieces.
- GAPPLEGATE
Each of the five works performed is delivered with an unabashedly positive rhetoric. - THE REHEARSAL STUDIO