Quincy Porter (1897-1966) is fairly forgotten nowadays. He was one of the foremost representatitves of the academic establishment, being tought at Yale with Horatio Parker (and also by Vincent D’Indy in Paris and Ernest Bloch in Cleveland) and ending his career there as a faculty member – he was also one of the staunchest opponents of Hindemith when the German composer taught there after the war, which doesn’t speak much in his favor. My attention was first attracted to him with his very-Blochian Second Violin Sonata from 1954, recorded by Louis Kaufman and Artur Balsam in 1954 and reissued in 1989 (with Bloch’s First Violin Sonata and pieces by William Grant Still) on Music & Arts CD 638 (link will open new tab to my review on Discophage.com). I’ve reviewed Porter’s two Symphonies on Albany TROY 574 (2003) and found them well-crafted but ultimately lacking personality. Porter’s 15-minute “Concerto concertante” for Two Pianos & Orchestra (1954 Pulitzer Prize winner), found on Helicon Records HE 1044 (1999) “American Music For Two Pianos And Orchestra” (with works of Walter Piston and Morton Gould), is a pleasurable work that fits well stylistically with its discmate, Walter Piston’s Concerto for Two Pianos & Orchestra: again it lacks a distinctive personality but it does have an enjoyable neo-classical clarity and vigor, at times vaguely reminiscent of Copland’s masterful Piano Sonata.