Leshnoff, Jonathan - Symphony No.3

Commissioned by the Kansas City Symphony, the Symphony No. 3 notes the 100th anniversary of the United States' entry into World War I. "The work pulled the listener in with a force similar to what those young Americans of the 1910s may have felt as the United States entered the war, a lulling, quiet, distant beginning, then a sudden, clamorous, inexorable event and its inevitable upheaval." (Libby Hanssen, The Kansas City Star) Especially compelling is the third movement, which uses a baritone voice reading letters home from the young soldiers. Listen to the premiere recording by the Kansas City Symphony, Michael Stern conducting, on YouTube.