ROCHBERG: Symphony No. 5 / Black Sounds

George Rochberg’s name enjoys a secure place in the canon of 20th century American composers, yet his large-scale, most challenging works remain little known. The power and sweep of Symphony No. 5 make a potent case for Rochberg as one of the century’s truly great symphonists, blending a mature twelve-tone mastery with elegiac evocations that range across the span of human history and experience, while Transcendental Variations is one of the most searingly beautiful works ever conceived for the intimate medium of the string orchestra.