Appalachian music reviews

Michael Feldman, host of Public Radio International's audience- participation show "Whad 'Ya Know?" is as astute as he is funny in his observations in the liner notes to this disc. "Copland became the great chronicler of the pastoral Golden West: he was country before country was cool," he says. The music is performed by several different English ensembles; the only American group featured is the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein and that cut happens to be by far the best on the record--especially if you like your open fifths really open, not through the nose. --Gwendolyn Freed