In the 19th century, anybody who had the means would flee the stifling heat of the cities and head for someplace green and shady and cool: a country house, a spa perhaps, or maybe just a cabin in the woods. Of course, these days you just crank up the air-conditioning. THAT wasn't an option until fairly recently, however. In the 19th century, it was Johannes Brahms who set the fashion for composers to spend their summer holiday months in the countryside working on their music. His Violin Concerto and Second Symphony were the products of leisurely weeks spent in the lake district of Austria's Carinthian Alps. The American composer Edward Collins, who lived from 1889-1951, followed Brahms' example. For Collins, the city to be escaped was Chicago, and his country refuge was Cedar Lake, Wisconsin. In the summer of 1913, Collins composed a Concert Piece for Piano and Orchestra. Like much of Collins' music, it was premiered by the Chicago Symphony under conductor Frederick Stock, who encouraged young American talent, especially a talented local boy like Collins, a native of Joliet, Illinois. Collins is just one of dozens of American composers whose works were once popular, but have now all but disappeared from view. In the case of Edward Collins, that may change, as conductor Marin Alsop and the Concordia Orchestra have plans to record all his major orchestral works.