At a time when presidential character has become a focus of international debate, Victoria Bond’s optimistic quartet of narrated musical portraits of Washington, Jefferson and the two Roosevelts – presidents known for their character – seems out of time and place. Perhaps they would be ideal fare for Midwest summer concerts – and perhaps such inspirational fare is what is needed.

Bond infuses into her portraits lots of rollicking Americana humour and characteristic energy, as in the opening of The Crowded Hours, devoted to Teddy Roosevelt and featuring stunning playing by the Chicago Symphony’s trumpeter Mark Ridenour and involving narration by Ray Frewen.

Each of the four is subtitled a concerto and each demands a virtuoso’s chops but they are equally well described as hybrid entertainments in which the words are brilliantly illuminated by Bond’s kaleidoscopic scoring. The freewheeling range of musical influences, from Yankee fife-and-drum tunes to circus calliopes and Broadway jazz, combine to give size and visceral excitement to the experience.

For Soul of a Nation, the most intoxicating of the four, Bond based her music on an edition of Corelli’s La folia found in Jefferson’s library. The angelic ending under Frank Almond’s soaring violin solo concludes a particularly touching love letter.

The playing by the four soloists must have been a composer’s dream. Each does their best to identify with their theme and is partnered with great enthusiasm by a talented chamber orchestra and wind ensemble from Roosevelt University, where the excellent recordings were made between 2012 and 2017.