Charles Ives: The Three Orchestral Sets
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Composer: IvesConductor: Sinclair
Orchestra: Malmo Symphony Orchestra
Performer: Malmo Chamber Chrous
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2008-05-27
Music Label: Naxos American Classics
Soundtracks:
- Impression of the St Gaudens in Boston Common (Col. Robert Gould Shaw and his Colored Regiment)
- Children's Holiday at Putnam's Camp
- The Housatonic at Stockbridge
- An Elegy to Our Forefathers
- The Rockstrewn Hills Join in the People's Outdoor Meeting
- From Hanover Square North, and the End of a Tragic Day, the Voice of the People Again Arose
- - (Andante moderato)
- During Camp Meetin' Week - One Secular Afternoon (in Bethel)
- - (Andante)
Free Music Notes for Charles Ives: The Three Orchestral Sets
Free Music Review: Impeccable intentions, but I don't hear great Ives
Hit: 3 Stars
I appreciate the scholarly work and personal dedication that this CD represents, but on other gorunds it falls short. "Three Places in New England" is not well represented by this timid 1914 version, which sounds like a starting-point lacking much that became the final masterpiece of later years. In addition, Sinclair's performance with a povincial Swedish orchestra is too tentative.
The Orchestral Set #2 disappoints for other reasons. Ives aparently lacked the physical strength and mental focus to turn these three disconnected segments into a strong whole -- the magic of "Three Places" aappears only sporadically. One proof that Ives's genius was inspired is that when he applied his musical devices without inspiration, one can hear the difference -- the movements here are diffuse and lack concentrated interest.
The final, "From Hanover Square North" segment approaches being first-rate, however, and evokes a stirring moment in Ives's personal life. On the harrowing day that the Germans sank the 'Lusitania' in May, 1915, Ives was standing at the El stop at Hanover Square in New York. An organ-grinder began to play "In the Sweet Bye and Bye," and the crowd, agitated by the disaster, began to sing along, swelling into a chorus that deeply moved Ives. He evokes the scene beautifully, giving us a hushed chorus, the approaching train, the city traffic in the background, all swelling to a powerful climax before the whole tapestry dissolves into silene as the train departs, the crowd disappears, and only the organ grinder is left. I could see this movement being isolated on a concert program -- although short, it ranks with other brief evocations like "The Unanswered Question."
As for the Orchestral Set #3, I find the argument about completions moot, because just as the second set drops below the inspiration of the first, the third is more diffuse still and evidences less concentration. It is also too long, at 28 min. almsot equaling the first two sets combined. Ives had the capacity to transform moments where "the shock of sensation," to use Viginia Woolf's phrase, overwhelmed him and triggered intense musical responses. These crystallized memories speak powerfully but also run the risk of evaporating into wisps of recollected emotion and not much more. Lovers of Ives are free, of course, to disagree.
I don't mean to intrude with these observations. Over the years I've been touched by Ives's best music, but I hear only passing moments of the best here. I wish that an overlooked masterpiece on the order of the Fourth Sym. had emerged from all this obvious love and dedication. In all honesty, I don't think we came close.
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