Charles Ives: Symphony No. 3; Orchestral Set No. 2

On this CD:

1. Symphony No. 3: The Camp Meeting, for orchestra, S. 3 (K. 1A3)
Composed by Charles Ives
Performed by Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam
Conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas

2. Orchestral Set No. 2, for orchestra (& optional chorus), S. 8 (K. 1A6)
Composed by Charles Ives
Performed by Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam
Conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas

Tracks:

Symphony No. 2: 1. Andante moderato
Symphony No. 2: 2. Allegro
Symphony No. 2: 3. Adagio cantabile
Symphony No. 2: 4. Lento maestoso
Symphony No. 2: 5. Allegro molto vivace
The Gong On The Hook And Ladder Or Firemen's Parade On Main Street: Allegro moderato
Tone Roads No. 1: Allegro
'A Set Of Three Short Pieces': Hymn: Largo Cantabile
'Three Outdoor Scenes': Hallowe'en
Central Park In The Dark: Molto adagio
The Unanswered Question: Largo molto sempre

Customer Reviews:

The perfect introduction to Ives........2006-08-04

In brief, this may be the best single album to jump start the novice on Ives -- and a great ride for the already converted among us. The comprehensive reviews in this thread say it all; I won't repeat. Let me add this, though: the earlier, excellent recording on Columbia (SONY) coupled with the 3rd Symphony, has a cut in the 4th movement, which Lenny opens up in this more recent recording. So, if you have the earlier recording this one is still something of a 'must have.' Buy it for that 'alternate' library of special recordings, like the Tatrai set of Bartok Quartets, Furtwangler's Beethoven Symphonies from the war years, Toscanini's recordings of OTELLO and FALSTAFF -- and Benny Goodman live at Carnegie Hall, 1938.

An Answer to the Unanswered Question.......2006-03-14

Often faced with the question from friends who are just beginning a classical music collection and want to try the 'American school' - the question being which of the many Ives recordings is a solid groundwork for understanding and appreciating Ives' importance - this is the recording I recommend. Despite the now gratefully multiple recordings of all of the works on this CD (especially the Symphony No. 2), this collection surveys Charles Ives well.

Leonard Bernstein was a champion for Ives performances both in this country and abroad. This recording shows why. His approach to Ives' work is not only diligent in his preparation of the orchestra, but it also programs a spectrum that allows each of the works to enhance the others. Here the Symphony No. 2 begins the survey, finding within the work the humor and nostalgia that abounds. And as if to recapitulate Ives' thoughts, Bernstein follows with the quirky 'The Gong on the Hook & Ladder or Firemen's Parade on Main Street', the 'Tone Roads No. 1, for chamber orchestra', a perfectly infectious 'A Set of 3 Short Pieces, for string quartet, double bass & piano',
Hallowe'en, for string quartet, piano & optional drum, the luminous 'Central Park in the Dark', and of course ends with the now American iconic 'The Unanswered Question (I & II).'

This recording may be dated in sound, but the performances remain definitive. And as for a fine introduction to both the well-known side of Ives as well as the slightly esoteric aspect of the genius' music, this well curated selection fits the bill. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, March 06

brilliant idiosyncrasies.......2004-05-20

Ives was an uncommon, refined distillate. Much like Wallace Stevens, another Connecticut Yankee insurance specialist thoroughly out of step with his environment, Ives's structural and thematic advances foretold radical new worlds. Many liner notes to recent Ives releases talk about his work as if it were like most other orchestral offerings--in reality, few touch upon how cataclysmic and inventive his realizations were.

Bernstein, conversely, grasps Ives in totality and advances the cause of this frighteningly bold new music, both in practice and in writing at length about these scores and the Protean imagination that engendered them. Bravo, Lenny.

Great Performances Of Ives From Bernstein And the NYPO.......2003-09-02

Towards the end of Leonard Bernstein's career he made several distinguished recordings of 20th Century American classical music for Deutsche Grammophon featuring the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. This splendid recording of Ives's 2nd Symphony, several other orchestra works and chamber pieces is yet another remarkable testament to Leonard Bernstein's empathy and understanding of 20th Century American classical music composed by such distinguished composers as Charles Ives, and, of course, Aaron Copland. No other conducter truly understood 20th Century American music as well as Bernstein. Here he leads the New York Philharmonic in one thrilling performance after another, starting with Ives's 2nd Symphony in a swaggering, convincing interpretation. He follows with a hauntingly beautiful "Central Park in the Dark" and ends with an appropriately brooding "The Unanswered Question"; between the symphony and these orchestral works are sandwiched some fine chamber pieces too. Although these were recorded at live performances, the sound quality is that from a studio. Absolutely a necessary CD for admirers of Charles Ives, Leonard Bernstein, the New York Philharmonic and anyone interested in 20th Century American classical music.

Uniquely American Ives Recordings.......2002-08-09

This is great American music in the truest sense. I was nurtured on movie soundtracks and scores from the likes of Bernard Herrmann, Dimitri Tiomkin, Alex North and others. As we have lost many of these composers and music that they may have left us through the years, I have been methodically looking at American "Twentieth Century" composers from the "classical" arena to fill that void from that great era. I discovered Charles Ives after reading up on Aaron Copland and his foray into many diverse areas of musical composition. One thing leads to another. Ives' Symphony No. 2 seems to have come up very frequently. It certainly doesn't have the melodic quality of Copland yet it does seem to have roots resulting in American musical motifs very strangely orchestrated resulting in some twisted profoundness. What attracts me is how the music almost seems as if it were composed for film. The technical qualities of this recording are marvelous. Leonard Bernstein's intuitive and vibrant interpretation of this music is effectively felt.

Ives: The Symphonies / Orchestral Sets 1 & 2

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Amazing
A great set
Beautiful Music
Do Not Hesitate!

Ives: The Symphonies / Orchestral Sets 1 & 2

Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Kurt Atterberg: The Symphonies (Box Set)

ASIN: B00004TTIK
Release Date: 2001-03-13

Tracks:

Symphony No. 1: I. Allegro - Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
Symphony No. 1: II. Adagio molto (sostenuto) - Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
Symphony No. 1: III. Scherzo: Vivace - Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
Symphony No. 1: IV. Allegro molto - Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
Symphony No. 4: I. Prelude: Maestoso - The Cleveland Orchestra
Symphony No. 4: II. Allegretto - The Cleveland Orchestra
Symphony No. 4: III. Fugue: Andante moderato - The Cleveland Orchestra
Symphony No. 4: IV. Very Slowly - Largo maestoso - The Cleveland Orchestra
Orchestral Set No. 2: I. An Elegy To Our Forefathers - The Cleveland Orchestra
Orchestral Set No. 2: II. The Rockstrewn Hills Join In The People's Outdoor Meeting - The Cleveland Orchestra
Orchestral Set No. 2: III. From Hanover Square North, At The End Of A Tragic Day, The Voices Of The People Again Arose - The Cleveland Orchestra

Tracks:

Symphony No. 2: I. Andante moderato - Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
Symphony No. 2: II. Allegro - Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
Symphony No. 2: III. Adagio cantabile - Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
Symphony No. 2: IV. Lento maestoso - Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
Symphony No. 2: V. Allegro molto vivace - Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
Symphony No. 3 'The Camp Meeting': I. Old Folks Gatherin' - Academy Of St Martin - In - The - Fields
Symphony No. 3 'The Camp Meeting': II. Children's Play - Academy Of St Martin - In - The - Fields
Symphony No. 3 'The Camp Meeting': III. Communion - Academy Of St Martin - In - The - Fields
Three Places In New England (Orchestral Set No. 1): I. The 'St Gaudens' In Boston Common (Col. Robert Gould Shaw And His Colored Regiment) - The Cleveland Orchestra
Three Places In New England (Orchestral Set No. 1): II. Putnam's Camp, Redding, Connecticut - The Cleveland Orchestra
Three Places In New England (Orchestral Set No. 1): III. The Housatonic At Stockbridge - The Cleveland Orchestra

Customer Reviews:

Amazing.......2003-10-11

This 2-CD set is really good, and contains his complete numbered symphonies (except, Holidays Symphony [No. 5]) and Orchestral Sets...

First Symphony (D minor!) is a study work, written in school years, so he didn't abandon the principles of harmony(!)

Second Symphony (F Major, except the last chord of music!) contains themes of some famous composers (Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Dvorak) and last chord is hysterical of course...

Third Symphony is a winner of Pulitzer, and written for a chamber orchestra

And Fourth Symphony is one of the best compositions by Ives.
Especially 2nd movement is terrific...He used some popular tunes and marches of USA (as usual!) and divide 2 part to the all orchestra. Even so, this movement requires two conductors for orchestra only (!). Orchestration is amazing (ex. quarter-tone piano, more two normal pianos, bells, gongs, large woodwinds, 6 horns, 6 trumpets, 4 trombones, 2 tubas etc...) and choir requires...

All performers are very good. Especially Dohnanyi and his Cleveland Orchestra (in 4th Sym.), Zubin Mehta and his Los Angeles PO (in 2nd Symphony) are excellent...

In other words, this set is a must have for all Ives fans.
Highly recommended...

A great set.......2003-08-18

Ives' four symphonies beautifully summarize his musical development. Unlike Brahms' four, they are not all fully mature works. Each one freezes a moment in his musical development. The first is student work, much in the manner of Dvorak and Tchaikovsky (with paraphrases of each), and the most vibrant American symphony written to that time. The Second does what many musical nationalists of Ives' day thought an American symphony should do -- apply native themes to European models, but as much fun as the result is, it was a dead end for the composer, and he never attempted anything like it again. Mehta and the LA Philharmonic give energetic and fully romantic readings of each, which came as a pleasant surprise to an long-time Ives fan who thought he'd heard all these works have to offer.

The Third comes closer to the mark. It consists of American themes woven together with ingenious counterpoint into wholly original forms. It is a jewel, and just the kind of pretty, low-key piece that brings out the best in Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields.

The Fourth is the masterpiece, the work Ives struggled toward all his life. Dohnanyi and the Cleveland Orchestra do a creditable job that stands up well to the competition from Stokowski and Tilson Thomas. I especially liked the engineering in the second and fourth movements, which captures some details others don't. (I'd never heard the wind machine before.)

As a bonus, you also get Ives' great orchestral sets, both in fine performances with Dohnanyi. The No. 1, better known as Three Places in New England, is the more famous, but the Second is sublime.

This reasonably priced set is a great, convenient way to acquire some of Ives' best music all at once.

Beautiful Music.......2001-05-13

I agree with Daniel. I, too, had been looking for a compilation of all of Ives' Symphonies, to no avail. Thankfully, Decca has released this gorgeous compilation of Ives' four symphonies, as well as including two orchestral sets.

Ives was a genius at creating uniquely beautiful harmony. And this impeccable set of recordings is a must for any Ives admirer.

Do Not Hesitate!.......2001-03-20

For quite some time, I had been looking for just such a compilation of all the Ives symphonies. When I saw this newly released compilation from Decca, I bought it without a moment's hesitation. And I am very glad I did: This set has very quickly become one of my favorite recordings. Not only the four symphonies, but also the two great orchestral sets 1 and 2 are included as well. Unquestionably, it is these two orchestral sets that make this compilation such an outstanding bargain and, really, an absolute MUST HAVE for anyone even remotely interested in modern classical music.

Each of the symphonies is very well performed, though none of these are what I would call the Definitive Recordings. However, the Mehta performance of the First is exceedingly good, and I don't really see how it could possibly be improved on. . . Dohnanyi's performance of the Fourth is a little restrained for my tastes, but it is nonetheless an interesting interpretation. Dohnanyi more than proves himself a able interpreter of Ives in his performances of the two orchestral sets, which are, without a doubt, the highlights of this album. J. P. Burkholder's liner notes add some very interesting insights into each of the works.

Tracks:

From The Steeples And The Mountains
The Things Our Fathers Loved
The Pond (Remembrance)
Memories
Charlie Rutlage
The Circus Band
The "St. Gaudens" In Boston Common
Putnam's Camp
The Housatonic At Stockbridge
In Flanders Fields
They Are There!
Tom Sails Away
Fugue From Symphony No. 4
Psalm 100
Serenity
General William Booth Enters Into Heaven
The Unanswered Question

Amazon.com

Michael Tilson Thomas is an expert Ivesian. His 1970 recording debut was with Three Places in New England, still available from DG. Here, he redoes the work with the interpolation of a chorus singing the poem on which the last movement, "The Housatonic at Stockbridge," is based--unusual, not as effective as the orchestral version, but fascinating. Tilson Thomas cites Ives's desire for performers to creatively shape his music, and this disc vindicates his editorial liberties by making Ives's surprising music even more unpredictable. The choral contributions are fine, too, but baritone Thomas Hampson steals the show with seven songs that display his empathy with Ives's varied styles and the range of the composer's music, from cowboy songs to touching elegies. The way Hampson bellows a Brooklynese "Coytin" (for "Curtain") at the end of the first song of Memories is worth the price of purchase. Here's a disc to be entertained by, and moved as well. The recording was made at SFS concerts, and we're privileged to share the audience's experience. A must-have for Ivesians and the curious. --Dan Davis

Customer Reviews:

A superb evening of Ives, the best in decades.......2005-12-18

Tilson Thomas's PR team should put out a ocntract on me; I rarely express enthusiasm for him. So let me bow especially low to this superlative 1999 concert of Ives as viewed from his most melodic, least revolutionary perspective. This is Ives as recording angel of ice cream socials and Fourth of July parades.

In the Seventies MTT made good but not exceptioanl recordings of Ives's major orchestral works. Here he concentrates on songs and orchestral bits and pieces, except for the extended Three Places in New England, which is x-rayed with exceptionally detailed sonics. Thomas Hampson secures his position as the best singer of American songs with highly dramatized, unbuttoned singing--his Charlie Rutlage, a Texas-accented elegy for a fallen cowpoke, and the familiar General William Booth Enters Into Heaven are instant classics. Chorus and orchestra enter in the spirit of bumptious good cheer, and overall a good time was had by all, even though the crowd was sent home sobered up by the supernaturally melancholy Unanswered Question, which never fails to send a shiver through the listener.

Something of a disappointment.......2004-01-12

I was very much looking forward to the latest Ives recording from Michael Tilson Thomas, whose reputation as an Ives specialist began with his first recording of the Three Pieces in New England, made in 1970 when the conductor was only in his mid-20s. That this disc came some way from living up to my expectations is perhaps due to a combination of over-optimism, uneven performances and what I feel is a less-than-ideal selection of works.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with the opening of the disc: a fine performance of the craggy, dissonant brass and percussion work From the Steeples and the Mountains, a highly impressive miniature which swells from its dissonant opening to a climax where sound seems to echo off in all directions. However, I'm less convinced with the rest of the purely-orchestral program: this reading of Ives' classic Three Pieces of New England lacks a little of the gracious flowing lines of Tilsom Thomas' earlier 1970 recording; in addition the experiment of adding a recently-found choral part to the finale merely demonstrates how right the composer was to leave it out. For his extract from the Fourth Symphony, Tilson Thomas chooses the slow movement fugue. I am guessing this choice was to emphasise the "accessible Ives", but this is by far the weakest movement of the work (it was in fact arranged from the first movement of Ives' then 20-year-old First String Quartet), and even a good performance--as here--can't entirely hide up its conservative, almost academic writing. That perennial Ives classic The Unanswered Question, which closes the work, is an infinitely finer work, but unfortunately Tilson Thomas cannot match the transcendence of his own--distinctly slower--Chicago Symphony Orchestra recording from 1986.

The rest of the disc concentrates on various incarnations of Ives' bewildering variety of songs, and as a result comes into partial competition with what is to my mind one of the finest Ives discs around--a recording of selections from the songs and the sets for orchestra with Susan Narucki, Sanford Sylvan and Music/Projects London under Richard Bernas (if you're an Ives fan and don't have this disc, I suggest you rectify this immediately). The songs are extremely uneven in quality--ranging from trivial kitsch to outright masterpieces--and their styles vary just as much.

Most of these songs appear here in orchestral garb, but in three of them Tilson Thomas accompanies Thomas Hampson's baritone on the piano himself. The salon song The Things our Fathers Loved is one of the examples of irreparable kitsch, but rather better is the bipartite Memories which switches from camp to sentimental at its midpoint. In contrast, Tom Sails Away is one of Ives' finest songs, but in this recording its effect is compromised by Tilson Thomas' rather insensitive playing in the piano part.

The Pond (Remembrance)--another of Ives' finest songs--appears here in a version for women's chorus and orchestra. This transcendental homage to the composer's father is in fact much more subtle and rhythmically complex than it appears at first, and it has appeared in a bewildering variety of versions (three of which appear on the Bernas disc mentioned earlier). Similarly restrained in means is John Adams' careful baritone-and-orchestra version of the touching song Serenity: it's well-judged and well-sung here, and Adams avoids the pitfalls that David Del Tredici walks into in his entirely unnecessary orchestration of In Flanders Fields.

By contrast, Charlie Rutlage is an absurdly over-the-top piece of cowboy kitsch that disintegrates into violent discords as the words describe Charlie's death: this voice-and-orchestra version isn't half as good as Sanford Sylvan's voice-and-piano reading on the Bernas disc. Similarly eccentric is The Circus Band, a bizarrely outrageous confection for chorus and orchestra (based on an early orchestral march) that lacks some of the lustre of similar Ives effects. The bizarre Ives is also at work They are There! This near-hysterial rant (not actually as militaristic as it sounds at first) is heard in a chorus-and-orchestral version that lacks something of the sheer outrageousness of Ives' own voice-and-piano recording (even though Tilson Thomas takes an effort to try to copy the style of that reading).

The chorus-and-organ setting of Psalm 100 ("Make a joyful noise unto the Lord") is an intriguing piece of writing that well merits its exposure here, though it can't match General William Booth Enters Into Heaven for sheer unbuttoned craziness. This setting of Vachel Lindsay's poem, heard here in a version for baritone, chorus and orchestra is one of Ives' most endearing creations: its remarkable mix of modernism, bizarre wit and sentimentality, topped off with the sudden introduction of a hymn tune at the climax, is typical of the composer at his best. Unfortunately, this performance misses out on the last edge of hysterical ecstasy that is so necessary for the work to have its full impact (in my opinion it's easier to bring off in the voice-and-piano version).

I realise I am perhaps being overcritical of this disc, but it seems to me that a disc by such a fine Ivesian as Tilson Thomas should be held to a very high standrd. Though I was personally disappointed by this recording, it may well appeal to those who know little of the composer: however, I fear that Ives specialists are likely to be underwhelmed.

a wonderful summary.......2002-12-21

Charles Ives has always been a puzzle to me. From time to time I have listened to his music with a complete lack of resolution. Did I actually like it? Is it just an American marketing phenomena? Would we hear as much of him if he were, say, an Australian composer? I am still totally uncertain, but I love this CD for its variety of styles, variety of forces and general good humour. If you are immediately dismissive of Ives, can I suggest you start with the two songs called 'Memories'? Have a listen to this CD with an open mind - you may not like it all - even most of it - but one thing is certain and that is that this is not run-of-the-mill music.

Ives is Ives.......2002-06-15

I grew up on movie soundtracks and scores from the likes of Bernard Herrmann, Dimitri Tiomkin, Alex North and others. We have lost many of these composers but not their music they have left us through the years. That's a gift to all of us. I have been slowly looking at "20th century" composers from the "classical" arena to enhance my listening pleasure and my nature or "quest" to always seek out music that I am certain I must have passed over. I discovered Charles Ives after reading up further on Aaron Copland and his foray into many diverse areas of musical composition. One door opens another. Ives' name and compositions seem to have come up frequently. So far Charles Ives' music doesn't have the melodic quality of Copland or many contemporaries yet it does seem to have roots resulting in American musical motifs very strangely orchestrated resulting in some twisted profoundness. What attracts me is how Ives' music almost seems as if it were composed for film. Ives is Ives as I have found out. I enjoy this recording. It is strange, contemplative and definitely esoteric. Abrupt turns abound but that is the strength of Ives.

The Mood of Time.......2002-06-15

This collection of Ives compositions is exceptional. This CD makes for very good listening. I play it when I am alone in the car. The pensive music realy captures the mood of time.

The Americans: Complete Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon

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Very Good To Memorable Recordings of Bernstein's American Composer Recordings

The Americans: Complete Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon

Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Preludes | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

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Leonard Bernstein Conducts Brahms (Collectors Edition)
Mahler: The Complete Symphonies

ASIN: B0001WGDXU
Release Date: 2004-05-11

Customer Reviews:

Very Good To Memorable Recordings of Bernstein's American Composer Recordings.......2007-07-01

This is yet another superb box set of Bernstein's Deutsche Grammophon recordings, emphasizing his strong affinity and interest in the work of such great American composers like Charles Ives, Aaron Copland and William Schuman. The best recordings are those with The New York Philharmonic of Charles Ives's orchestral works and Aaron Copland's Third Symphony, "Quiet City" suite for horn and strings, and the El Salon de Mexico ballet suite. But I also admire Bernstein's recordings with the Los Angeles Philharmonic of Gershwin's great classical/jazz orchestral works like "Rhapsody in Blue" and "An American in Paris", and the recordings of several other Copland scores, most notably, "Appalachian Spring". Like virtually all of the other recordings in Deutsche Grammophon's "Collector's Edition" series of Leonard Bernstein, these were recorded by Deutsche Grammophon in the 1980s, often during live concert performances held in Los Angeles, Tel Aviv, and New York City (Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall). While some may prefer Bernstein's classic recordings of Copland and Ives for CBS Masterworks (now Sony) in the late 1950s and 1960s, these have the benefit of being digital recordings made by Deutsche Grammophon's then state-0f-the-art recording processes. Without question, anyone who is a fan of Copland's, Gershwin's or Ives' scores and of Leonard Bernstein will surely cherish this fine 6 CD box set.

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An "Orphic egg" laid

A Set of Pieces: Music by Charles Ives

Manufacturer: Polygram Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000001GLV
Release Date: 1994-07-19

Tracks:

Three Places in New England: The 'Saint-Gaudens' In Boston Common
Three Places in New England: Putnams' Camp, Redding, Connecticut
Three Places in New England: The Housatonic at Stockbridge
The Unanswered Question
A Set Of Pieces: In The Cage
A Set Of Pieces: In The Inn
A Set Of Pieces: In The Night
Symphony No.3 'The Camp Meeting': Old Folks Gatherin'
Symphony No.3 'The Camp Meeting': Children's Day
Symphony No.3 'The Camp Meeting': Communion
Set No.1: The See'r
Set No.1: A Lecture (Tolerance)
Set No.1: The Ruined River (The New River)
Set No.1: Like a Sick Eagle
Set No.1: Calcium Light Night
Set No.1: Allegretto Sombreoso

Customer Reviews:

An "Orphic egg" laid.......2005-12-17

Back in the '70s Decca put out a budget US label called "Orphic Egg." My title utilizes this as a pun for what Orpheus did with Ives's Set No. 1.

The person who advised Orpheus on this music did a really poor job. Never mind the HOWLER in the top Violin in an early-on measure in "The St. Gaudens" (A-sharp instead of A-natural -- WHOA!). I'm here to write about this version of Set No. 1: The See'r, A Lecture, The Ruined River, Like a Sick Eagle, Calcium Light Night, and Incantation.

First off I'll point out the most obvious blooper. The Solo horn part in Incantation is played in the wrong key! It is supposed to start on E-flat, but sounds a 5th lower on A-flat. The reason this happened is that the person who advised them didn't notice that in the score it says "actual sounds" above the Solo staff, but this note was omitted from the part (publisher's error). So the English Horn plays it as if it is a transposing part, and thus it sounds a 5th lower than it should be! All that needed to be done was to check the version for voice and piano -- but their advisor didn't bother to do that.

The versions of The See'r and Like a Sick Eagle are the ones made by Gunther Schuller for his Columbia LP. They're "all right" but Schuller based his scores solely on the old 1934 copyist scores that perpetuate significant if minor errors. This version of A Lecture is the one made by Gregg Smith for his second Columbia LP which also has minor errors and changes the Solo cornet to clarinet.

Now comes the true joke of the album (a sad joke poorly played on Orpheus): these versions of The Ruined River and Calcium Light Night are not just in critical error, at times they are just plain crazy! The score used for CLN is almost funny for me to listen to --- wrong rhythms, sometimes bizzare rhythms, especially in the solo cornet part, and a few completely incorrect parts for the instruments. Reading an Ives sketch can be deceiving, and one shouldn't always rely on alignment of one part against another, or hastily-sketched fragments of parts duplicated by a later addition, but this is what was done when this score was made by the group's advisor. It doesn't even sound, to my ears, like a march anymore, and this piece is supposed to represent the members of Psi Upsilon and Delta Kappa Epsilon marching across the Old Yale Campus initiating new members and singing uproariously. They could have used Ken Singleton's score, which is a good score and appears on Jim Sinclair's Koch CD, but I hear it's unavailable. They might have even used the now-discredited Henry Cowell "arrangement" and done better, but they didn't!

Now I say all this because I have some inside information. I was commissioned to do a critical Ives Society edition of this Set in the 1980s, and Ensemble Modern used that edition in their now (unfortunately) out-of-print EMI CD. One day I was called up by the person advising Orpheus and asked if I would send them my edition, in score and parts, because this person thought it would be "wonderful" to have these pieces fill out the CD (in other words, I was sweet-talked into providing these materials). I did so, at my own expense and without asking for any remuneration. I checked with Orpheus a few days later and they had received my materials. Within a few minutes I was called back by the person who had asked for the materials and was seriously cussed out for daring to call Orpheus on my own. I was a little stunned. I was even more stunned when this CD came out with this travesty of an edition on it! (I also had a good laugh over how truly awful it was!)

I wrote Orpheus telling them how they had been taken in (my first use of the "Orphic egg" metaphor) but they didn't seem to care. It's their misfortune that they put their trust in someone who didn't merit it.

The CD has a wonderful rendition of Symphony No. 3 and the Theater Orchestra Set, and the other two movements of "Three Places." But don't buy it for Set No. 1! You can do better with Richard Bernas's "When the Moon" CD (even though he was made to use Cowell's score fof Calcium Light Night).

Charles Ives: Symphony No. 3; Orchestral Set No. 2

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Well Done, Well Played!

Charles Ives: Symphony No. 3; Orchestral Set No. 2

Manufacturer: Sony
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Binding: Audio CD

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Ives: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 4/Hymns
The Orchestral Music of Charles Ives: World Premieres and First Editions

ASIN: B0000025Q9
Release Date: 1990-10-25

Tracks:

Symphony No. 3: I - Old Folks Gatherin' - Andante maestoso
Symphony No. 3: II - Children's Day - Allegro
Symphony No. 3: III - Communion - Largo
Orchestral Set No. 2: I - An Elegy To Our Forefathers - Very Slowly
Orchestral Set No. 2: II - The Rockstrewn Hills Join In The People's Outdoor Meeting - Allegro
Orchestral Set No. 2: III - From Hanover Square North, At The End Of A Tragic Day, The Voice Of The People Again Arose - Very Slowly

Customer Reviews:

Well Done, Well Played!.......2002-01-20

Another stunning recording by Micheal Tilson Thomas and the Concertgebouw Orchestra!! Sony has done a great job with thier series of recordings of Ives's music. I have been more than satisfied in owning this disc. Even those new to the sound and genius of Charles Ives can easily appreciate his third symphony. Unknown and unplayed for almost forty years, Ives 3rd Symphony was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1947. He promply sent his prize money back saying "prizes are for boys...". Who can blame him?!This work, completed in 1909, contains harmonies and melodic treatments that stand out as assuridly ahead of thier time. In true Ivesian fashion this symphony is meant to reflect the religous atmosphere of nineteenth centurey Connecticut including tent revivals, children's singing, and familular hymn tunes. Grown up in the "Bible Belt" or ever attended an old fashioned "sangin'"? If so, you are sure to delite in hearing tunes like 'What a Friend We Have in Jesus' and 'There is a Fountian Filled With Blood' treated with such depth and thematic variation. Throughout the 3rd Symphony there are at least five hymns represented. Each movement has an earthy American quality that is continually refreshing and exciting. The orchestra sparkles and weaves its way around the thick textures and modulations with notable precision and passion for this Ives' masterpiece. Listeners only need be sentimental for the good old days of Lowell Mason and William Bradbury to indentify with the symphony's message. Some will also begin to appreciate Ives as one of the first innovators of American music for his polyrythms and dissonances. Reason #2 to buy this disck is the coupling with his Orchestral Set Number 2. This fascinating exercise in tonality and polytextures is impressive. Each movement is distinctly different in thematic material and focus. The imagery of the third mvmnt will send chills up your spine. Bravo to this fine orchestra and conductor for bringing such depth and vurtuosity to every note and beat. Anyone interested in learning something new about music should give these peaces a hearing.

Ives: Symphony No. 2; The Unanswered Question

Average customer rating:

Ives: Symphony No. 2; The Unanswered Question

Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000AARL1Q
Release Date: 2005-08-30

Tracks:

Andante Moderato
Allegro
Adagio Cantabile
Lento Maestoso
Allegro Molto Vivace
The Unanswered Question For Trumpet, Flute Quartet & Strings
Central Park In The Dark
Tone Roads No.1
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Chromatimelodtune

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Highlights from Alternatives

Manufacturer: Art & Electronics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Trios | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B00000DWJ6
Release Date: 1988-01-01

Tracks:

Concerning Water, Dead and Alive, Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra
Calcium Light Night
Symphony No. 2 for Flute, Piano, Strings and Percussion
Moldavian Dance, Improvisiation for Saxophone - Simon Schirman
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Remembrances of Alpine Rose
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Centenary Edition 1988-1997, Vol. 10

Manufacturer: Capitol
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000002SAH
Release Date: 1997-04-15

Ionisation II: Pioneer Orchestral Recordings 1927-1951

Average customer rating:

Rare. Which means "Not necessarily well-done."

Ionisation II: Pioneer Orchestral Recordings 1927-1951

Manufacturer: Symposium
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B0000TWAJU
Release Date: 2004-04-27

Customer Reviews:

Rare. Which means "Not necessarily well-done.".......2004-04-28

My main interest in acquiring this CD (as well as a companion one on the same Symposium label called, simply, "Ionisation" and including the famed Edgar Varèse work) was to assess the capabilities of Nicolas Slonimsky as a conductor of the music of "moderns," and, most importantly among those moderns, the music of Charles Ives.

Save for an earlier public performance of portions of Ives's Fourth Symphony by Eugene Goossens in the '20s (and, perhaps, in-practice run-throughs of his Second Symphony by Walter Damrosch and his New York Symphony-Orchestra a decade earlier than the documented Goossens performance), the first conductor to champion the orchestral music of Ives was Slonimsky. In the early '30s, Slonimsky formed a group of Boston Symphony Orchestra musicians (and, I would expect, some free-lancers) as the Boston Chamber Orchestra, and, with this group, directed some of the earliest-known performances of the music of Chávez, Cowell, Ives, Riegger, Ruggles, Varèse and other lesser-known Pan-American composers. His performances of this music, most especially Ives's "Three Places in New England," in venues as far apart as Havana, New York, Paris and Berlin, were the stuff of legends. And no one added more to that legend than Slonimsky himself, in his later writings as diarist and musical lexicographer. Famed for his preternatural ability to conduct two different meters with his arms, he seemed a natural for conducting the polyrhythms of much of Ives's music.

It is therefore sad for me to have to say that the two early Ives performances, recorded in May, 1934, captured on this CD border on the abysmal. The "Barn Dance" (from Ives's Holidays Symphony) has serious intonation and ensemble roughness to it, perhaps as a consequence of the Pan American Chamber Orchestra being essentially a pick-up group not having a tradition of performing such rhythmically difficult works. (It was only over time-measured in decades-that performance practices for Ives's technically difficult works were elevated to an acceptable level.) The performance of "In the Night" (from Ives's Set for Theatre Orchestra) fares somewhat better, if hardly at the level of what such current-day Ives specialists as Richard Bernas and James Sinclair routinely achieve these days.

These two early (and brief) Ives performances are included amongst what the Symposium label producer (unattributed) describes as "Pioneer Orchestral Recordings: 1927 - 1951." The dawn of the age of electrical recordings began in 1925, and the earliest recording on this CD dates to 1928 (not 1927), a rather good performance by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra led by Prof. Anton Konrath (a total unknown to me) of the Scherzo from Bruckner's 3rd Symphony. Equally good in performance, and marginally better in sound, are yet three more Bruckner Scherzos, from his Symphonies "0," 1 and 2, with the Berlin Staatsoper Orchestra led by Fritz Zaun (another total unknown).

The CD opens with an extended suite from Albert Roussel's "Le Festin de l'Araignée" ("The Spider's Feast), dating from 1929 and led by the composer. Neither the recorded sound nor the orchestral performance is up to the par of the above-noted earlier Bruckner recording. Interesting as an historical document, but little more.

More interesting, primarily for their rarity, are early recordings of little-heard music by Mark Lothar (two excerpts from "Lord Spleen," with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra directed by Clemens Schmalstich and dating from 1930) and Werner Egk, remembered as the composer of the ballet music for "The Red Shoes" (his "Kleine Abraxas-Suite," with the RIAS Symphony Orchestra, Berlin directed by Ferenc Fricsay and dating from 1951).

The well-filled (74:47) CD also has a 1945 performance of Ralph Vaughan Williams's "Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis," with Arturo Toscanini leading his NBC Orchestra in a live performance (complete with audience cough). Undoubtedly recorded in the infamous RCA Studio 8H, the recording of this performance captures all the problems attributed to the venue. Worse yet, Toscanini's interpretation of the work is best described as "rushed, driven, forced, totally unidiomatic," and not all that good from an ensemble perspective either. (The cello pizzicati early in the work are both way too prominent and not at all "together.") Without specifically editorializing on Toscanini interpretations and performances in general, I'll simply note that this is perhaps the worst possible way in which to acquaint oneself with this Vaughan Williams masterpiece.

The CD transfers seem to have been made totally without benefit of any of the well-known technical tricks available for reducing surface noise from the originals (presumably lacquer masters), and this is largely independent of vintage: the later (1945, 1951) recordings don't necessarily show measurable improvement over the earlier ones (1928, 1929) made at the dawn of the electrical recording age. The booklet notes are helpful for background material on the more obscure composers (Egk and Lothar), but little else. In particular, the producer/engineer responsible for the transfers is not identified (and it's probably just as well).

In summary, a mixed-bag curiosity, primarily of interest to those who would like to get some sense of Slonimsky's vaunted expertise with the music of Ives. Regrettably, these Pan American Chamber Orchestra recordings-perhaps the only Slonimsky ones extant-do a disservice to both composer and conductor. If only there existed an air check of the performance Slonimsky led of Ives's "Three Places in New England," conducting the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in March, 1932! Those performances also included Ruggles's "The Sun-treader," Cowell's "Synchrony" and Varèse's "Arcana." To hear (or, more correctly, read) Slonimsky's relating of the concerts, they must have been something special.

Well, maybe one of these days...

Bob Zeidler

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