My name is Daniel. I was an English teacher in Seoul, South Korea, and am now a writer who has

published three books including South Korea: Our Story by Daniel Nardini.

                          Ever since I was a little boy, I always loved to listen to classical symphonic music

from my father's record collection. Although my father was poor, he had a large record collection which

included so many of the best European symphonic composers of all time like Ludwig van Beethoven,

Giuseppe Verdi, Wolfgang Mozart, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, George Frederic Handel, etc. He also had a lot

of Italian operas. Clearly, his love of such music came from his father. One record I noticed that he rarely

ever listened to was a composer named Erin Copland. When I got older, I did research on Copland. 

Erin Copland was one of the most influential American composers in the 20th Century. He composed

many musical themes that became famous such as "Fanfare for the Common Man," "Rodeo," and

one of my favorites "Salon de Mexico."  My father also had a record of music by another American

composer named Ernest Bloch. Bloch was an early 20th Century composer who was also a music

teacher at the University of California in Berkeley. His symphonies reflect in many ways American

Jewish themes. One composer that my father did not have was the famous George Gershwin. Gershwin

was especially famous for his piece "Porgy and Bess." Then there is the famous Mexican composer

Carlos Chavez, who influenced a whole generation of Mexican composers with his symphonies based

on Mexico's traditional folk music. Why are these composers so little known compared to their

European counterparts? A good deal of the answer is that symphony started out in Europe originally

and most people associate classical symphony with Europe. But it went well beyond Europe into the

Americas and, yes, even into Asia. One very well known Chinese composer named Xian Xinghai

who composed the now famous Yellow River Cantata. Although classical symphony reamins

associated with Europe, there are many American and Latin American composers who have

helped contribute their rich talent and works to this form of music.