Symphony no. 1 (1953-55)

 — Helps’ first major orchestral composition won him considerable recognition (a Fromm Foundation award and the Walter W. Naumberg award). The central Adagio was the first to be composed and was performed separately under the golden baton of Leopold Stokowski.
The composer deftly

surrounds this powerful and symmetrical slow movement with two energetic “Sonata-form” satellites. This work was major success in establishing Helps’ original compositional voice and his independence from the ambient serial/academic discourse of the era.

Listen to movement II, Adagio

View the manuscript score scanned by
Digital Commons @ University of South Florida