The nal orchestral concert of the Seattle Symphony's Made in America Festival teems with ne pieces by William Schuman (his brainy and expansive Symphony No. 3), Aaron Copland, Carlos Chåvez (the festive Sinfonia India), and Howard Hanson.

Aaron Copland's Symphonic Ode will surprise those expecting the familiar Copland-esque Americana of "Hoe-Down" or Appalachian Spring. Composed in 1929, the Ode nds Copland outgrowing Stravinsky's neoclassical phase and nding his own voice in full-throated declamatory melodies girded with yearning, sky-straddling dissonance.

My sentimental favorite is Howard Hanson's Symphony No. 2, subtitled "Romantic." A great second-rate symphony, Hanson's work delivers the goods with nary a scent of innovation: soaring strings burnished with thrumming harps, fortissimo cliffhanger climaxes (my goodness, will the brass or anyone else in the universe ever play another note?), frisky woodwinds gamboling through a creamy mist of yet more plush strings, and a coda that tucks in a little Broadway hoong just to seal the deal. Longtime champions of Hanson, Schwarz and the band play this music superbly.

For next year's installment of the festival, Schwarz plans to focus on American music after 1960. My wish list includes the orchestral wizard George Crumb (how about Echoes of Time and the River?) and more than a morsel of minimalism-I suggest importing the NYC-based Alarm Will Sound for Steve Reich's The Desert Music. To get gutsy, why not book Newband to play the music of Harry Partch on the original instruments? Or ask Seattle-based artist Trimpin to set up his Vorsetzer piano for a recital of Conlon Nancarrow's dazzling polyrhythmic and polytemporal pieces for player piano? Or revive the music of another Schwarz compadre, the almost-forgotten sonic sorceress Lucia Dlugoszewski (especially Abyss and Caress)? CHRISTOPHER DeLAURENTI

Catch the Seattle Symphony Thurs May 19 (Benaroya Hall, Third Ave and Union St, 215-4747), 7:30 pm, $20-$40.