Harold Van Heuvelen

[6] After the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, Van Heuvelen enlisted in the United States Army and served as a recruiter during World War II, eventually rising to the rank of colonel.

[3][4][5]: 1  In 2007, after the deaths of their respective spouses, Harold married Alma Van Heuvelen (née Viswat), whom he had met while they were both students at Hope College decades before.

[4] While many of Van Heuvelen's compatriots sketched house plans, the composer committed his symphony to a handwritten, bound volume.

[5]: 2 [7] Levin arranged for it to be premiered at Brucker Hall at Fort Myer, Virginia on November 4, 2012, by the United States Army Band under the direction of Major Tod Addison.

[3][4][5]: 1 [7] Although Addison had initially worried that the symphony would not be particularly good, he abandoned those reservations upon seeing the score, later describing the piece as "tonal", "accessible", "broad" and "neo-romantic" in the manner of Brahms.