If I like Ives

[bwv 1080]

If you like the pastiche aspect of Ives would recommend Schnittke, George Rochberg or John Zorn

Carter is sort of Ives's successor - taking alot of his ideas and abstracting them

[Guido]

Well, in response to the post "If I like Ives" my response is this:  If I like Ives, a miracle must have happened.

Such wit.

[mahler10th]

Ok, I Spotify-ed Ives for another blast of Central Park after dark.  It seems to be as I remember.  Lots of interesting textures and goings on, reflections of daytime in the night, etc.  But it DOESN'T speak to me.  It is like trying to tag along with someone whose language you do not understand.  I can hear him speak, but I don't know what he is talking about.
So...on to his New England trilogy, which DOES speak to me from the beginning - and then it goes a bit peculiar.  His musical allusions are well set, but I'm afraid if he were on Facebook, I would not press the "like" button.

[karlhenning]

Ok, I Spotify-ed Ives for another blast of Central Park after dark.  It seems to be as I remember.  Lots of interesting textures and goings on, reflections of daytime in the night, etc.  But it DOESN'T speak to me.  It is like trying to tag along with someone whose language you do not understand.  I can hear him speak, but I don't know what he is talking about.
So...on to his New England trilogy, which DOES speak to me from the beginning - and then it goes a bit peculiar.  His musical allusions are well set, but I'm afraid if he were on Facebook, I would not press the "like" button.

John, I appreciate both your willingness to give Ives a fresh go, and your earnest not-quite-engagement with the music.

If you can sample this disc, it may (or may not) be a different texture of Ives experience for you:
 

[karlhenning]

Any chance The Answered Question was inspired by Taps - you know, that piece for buggle they play when Marines have died?

Only one g in bugle, you born misspeller, you ; )

[karlhenning]

John, I appreciate both your willingness to give Ives a fresh go, and your earnest not-quite-engagement with the music.

If you can sample this disc, it may (or may not) be a different texture of Ives experience for you:
[asin]B00004SDRG[/asin]

To follow up on this, John, here is what our own Joe B had to say about this disc:

I finished listening to this CD a little while ago and I'm still glowing. It's a creative bit of programming in a well-performed, well-engineered reaslization. First come Ives's pieces for chamber orchestra, grouped as he intended into his idiosyncratic "sets." Then come the same pieces again, in the same order, in their versions for voice and piano. Some of the orchestral music. such as "Evening" was unknown to me. Others, like "Charlie Rutledge," I knew only as songs. (The orchestral arrangement of "Rutledge" is an eye-opener--it's like Copland by way of Varese.) Loveliest of all is the voice of the soprano Susan Narucki. Her interpretation of the Se'er (Set No. 1) seemed rather strident on first hearing, but in the softer, slower songs she gave me chills, esp. "Like a Sick Eagle" and "The Indians." The CD also includes a fine rendition of the Set for Theater Orchestra. Conductor Richard Bernas and his ensemble do well by the broken, sad-yet-happy ragtime of "In the Inn." The only omission in the collection is a vocal performance of "In the Cage"--the first of the three pieces. The other two don't have vocals counterparts, but "In the Cage" does, and one wonders why Bernas and company decided not to include it.
I have always believed that some of Ives's best music can be found in his pieces for chamber orchestra, in which, surprisingly, he uses his signature quotation technique only sparingly. Most of the tunes are original. The music is undiluted Ives, and it is wonderful.

[millionrainbows]

I learned some crucial ideas about Ives from this, and I think it's really great!

https://youtu.be/DPypnrXR8iQ