“To me, the romantic spirit in music is important because it is timeless.”

These words by David Diamond capture the essence not only of the composer himself, but of an entire generation of American composers whose heartfelt music was born during the Great Depression and World War II. Symphony No. 1, the composer's first “real” symphony, was written upon Diamond's return from Paris where he studied with Boulanger. The Violin Concerto No. 2 had its first and only performance in 1948. Difficulties with the family who commissioned it prevented any further performances until Gerard Schwarz arranged for its United States premère in 1991. The Enormous Room is based on E.E. Cummings' book describing the author's incaceration in a French detention camp during World War I. In 1948, Diamond, inspired by cummings' words and deeds, composed this instrumental work in which he “tried to interpret literary ideas in musically programmatic terms.”