Gillis • Tulsa, A Symphonic Portrait / Glanville-Hicks • Three Gymnopedies / Rudhyar • Sinfonietta / Freeman • String Quartet

Released in 1978 on the Varèse Sarabande label, this record emerged during a period when the label was actively mining the archives of mid-century American and experimental classical music. This specific compilation, catalog number VC 81046, serves as a curated cross-section of 20th-century American composition, featuring works by Don Gillis, Peggy Glanville-Hicks, Dane Rudhyar, and John Freeman. It was part of an effort to preserve and distribute niche orchestral and chamber works that had previously seen limited availability or were relegated to historical radio transcriptions.

The design and curation of this release reflect the intellectual mission of Varèse Sarabande to document the diverse voices of the American modernist tradition. Don Gillis, best known for his vivid musical portraits of American life, sits alongside the distinct, rhythmically nuanced works of Australian-American composer Peggy Glanville-Hicks and the mystical, transcendentalist compositions of Dane Rudhyar. The record was received by the classical community as a scholarly endeavor, providing a rare platform for these composers to reach contemporary listeners interested in the evolution of the 20th-century avant-garde.