I agree re Gershwin. What about Samuel Barber?
Samuel Barber I could never get into. The last time I tried was light years ago (or so it feels).
What I’d like to know is what made Aaron Copeland more acceptable than Gershwin?
1. Overture to Sheridan's School for Scandal. Whatta hoot! Similar in structure and intent to Bernstein's Candide overture, Barber's comes several years before.
2. Barber's 1st Symphony. Recorded a lot, but I hear fascinating details in this reading I haven't heard elsewhere. Then again, my first exposure to this work was in a transcription for concert band, back in the 60's.
3. First Essay for Orchestra. A major piece from the thirties. By that time, Toscanini was a Barber exponent and premiered this piece.
4. Finally, a very interesting Second Symphony. Barber composed this at the end of WW II, and it probably reflects on his experience in the Army Air Corps/Force. He suppressed the piece after initial performances for reasons known only to him. Thankfully, it was later restored (I presume after his death) from the orchestral parts. Stuffed with unusual effects; but the middle movement has the most heartbreaking elegiac passage in music (I count Barber's own Adagio a close second.) A symphony I am glad was rescued in the name of posterity.