Charles Ives

Started by Thom, April 18, 2007, 10:22:51 AM

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Thom

I think Charles Ives really deserves a thread of his own.

Nowadays he is considered to be one of the most prominent American composers but in his days he even couldn't get his music played. It didn't bother him much, so it seems. He set up a succesful insurance business so he appears to have been a composer only in his spare time (he once said about his musical career: I didn't want to starve my children on my dissonances).

I think his music is great. Maybe not always nice or good sounding in the traditional sense but surely always surprising and - I think - with a lot of humour in it.

X

karlhenning


Thom


karlhenning

The songs are beautiful, and the instrumental adaptations for the various "Sets" are creative and specific.  And, the whole disc is beautifully performed.

Maciek

Quote from: karlhenning on April 18, 2007, 10:24:20 AM
Simply The Bomb:



Strangely enough, my "local" internet shop has it, so I've added it to my wish list. Now all I need to do is rob a bank...

Charles

Quote from: karlhenning on April 18, 2007, 10:24:20 AM
Simply The Bomb:



Yo! Karl, I know not my usual greeting .. but gotta get the mojo flowing. (what am I talking about?!!  :P ;D)

Anyway, Ives is favorite composer of mine. I encourage all who have an adventurous ear to check out his music. I will state emphatically that I love the 4th Symphony. The 2nd is very nice in a strange collage sort of way and the 3rd is charming.

To me, Charles Ives' stance on music and his individuality are extremely attractive. The music never fails to surprise, never boring. I do believe fans of Mahler may enjoy a lot of his work.

Charles (not Ives)  :P


Maciek

Quote from: Charles on April 18, 2007, 10:29:59 AM
Charles (not Ives)  :P

Whew, glad we cleared that up. Was in shock when I saw "last post in Ives thread - by... Charles" :o ;D

karlhenning

Benvenuto, Carlo! Finalmente, sei arrivato!

bhodges

For many years Ives was my favorite composer.  (Now I don't feel the need to have "one favorite" and really couldn't choose... ;D)

But I love his large orchestral works -- Three Places in New England and the Holidays are favorites -- and his smaller things are often divine.  The songs, in particular, are among the best vocal writing by anyone. 

Favorite recent live performances: James Levine and the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Three Places, which was just spectacular, and Alan Gilbert in the Symphony No. 4 with the New York Philharmonic, which was the first time I began thinking Gilbert might be the right conductor to follow Maazel.  And then just a few weeks ago, Gerald Finley did a few of the songs, with the same pianist on his all-Ives recording, Julius Drake.  They were sensational.

--Bruce 

bhodges

Quote from: karlhenning on April 18, 2007, 10:24:20 AM
Simply The Bomb:



And I really, really need to get this, especially since I'm a huge fan of Susan Narucki, whom I just heard several times last weekend. 

--Bruce

karlhenning

It would have to be in the style of Hopper, you know

Charles

Quote from: MrOsa on April 18, 2007, 10:31:41 AM
Whew, glad we cleared that up. Was in shock when I saw "last post in Ives thread - by... Charles" :o ;D

;D

Charles (ahemmm ....)  :-X  ........      ;D

Charles

Quote from: bhodges on April 18, 2007, 10:47:44 AM
For many years Ives was my favorite composer.  (Now I don't feel the need to have "one favorite" and really couldn't choose... ;D)

But I love his large orchestral works -- Three Places in New England and the Holidays are favorites -- and his smaller things are often divine.  The songs, in particular, are among the best vocal writing by anyone. 

Favorite recent live performances: James Levine and the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Three Places, which was just spectacular, and Alan Gilbert in the Symphony No. 4 with the New York Philharmonic, which was the first time I began thinking Gilbert might be the right conductor to follow Maazel.  And then just a few weeks ago, Gerald Finley did a few of the songs, with the same pianist on his all-Ives recording, Julius Drake.  They were sensational.

--Bruce 

Love the Three Places .... I have too many versions of it already. I think the Tilson Thomas one is quite good.

OTTOMH I have a Dohnanyi disc on Decca which is wonderful and it has another set of orchestral pieces that are somewhat similar to the Three Places if I'm not mistaken. It's a really great recording.

Charles

bhodges

Quote from: Charles on April 18, 2007, 11:22:08 AM
Love the Three Places .... I have too many versions of it already. I think the Tilson Thomas one is quite good.

OTTOMH I have a Dohnanyi disc on Decca which is wonderful and it has another set of orchestral pieces that are somewhat similar to the Three Places if I'm not mistaken. It's a really great recording.

Charles

This is the one, yes?



--Bruce

Joe Barron

Quote from: Egebedieff on April 18, 2007, 10:53:16 AM
If I could paint,
it would be a painting of Ives in his kitchen
listening to the premiere of his Third Symphony
on his maid's radio

Egbdf


I believe that was the premiere of the Second Symphony, wkth Bernstein condcting the NYPO.

Robert

Quote from: Egebedieff on April 18, 2007, 11:37:34 AM
I don't know this one. Have lots of old ones, and still am fond of the old Howard Hanson, 3 places, but I'd like to hear a new Sun Treader or Orch Set # 2, which is also one of my favorite pieces. "From Hanover Sq North at the end of a tragic day the voice of the people again arose" can reliably bring me to tears.

egbdf

I prefer this version of Ruggles to MTT.  Its quicker and better balanced  This is my benchmark......

Charles

Quote from: bhodges on April 18, 2007, 11:26:52 AM
This is the one, yes?



--Bruce

Yes!  that's the one ... incidentally I own another Decca CD with Dohnanyi ... this has Ives 4th Symphony and Varese ... it's coming back to me.

Charles


Joe Barron

On the Copland thread, I expressed a wish that Michael Tilson Thomas would bring his considerable charm and knowledgeability to bear in a discussion of Charles Ives on PBS, as he did with Copland and stravinsky. Apparently, something of the sort is in the works. From the Waterbury, CT, Town Times:


Danbury Music Center Looking For Area Residents to Appear in Documentary   

DANBURY - Area residents are invited to appear in a documentary on the late Danbury composer Charles Ives with the San Francisco Symphony, under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas.

The Danbury Music Centre is coordinating the Danbury portion of the filming of the documentary. InCA Productions will film Sunday and Monday, May 27 and 28.

The documentary, "Charles Ives and His Holidays Symphony," is slated for release in the autumn of 2009. The documentary will be shown on PBS and aired internationally.

InCA Productions will film a re-creation of the famous George Ives experiment of two marching bands crossing each other while playing two different marches in different meters and keys.

The Danbury Brass Band, under the direction of Alan Raph, and the Danbury High School Marching Band, under the direction of Nick Albano, will make up the core to the two bands.

Additional adult brass players and percussionists are invited to join the Danbury Brass Band for this event. The filming will take place at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 27, at Putnam Park in Bethel.

Monday, May 28, Memorial Day, the New Fairfield Marching Band, under the direction of Scott King, will be filmed at Wooster Cemetery in Danbury playing music later used in Charles Ives' Holidays Symphony.

Filming begins at 6:45 a.m. Extras, both adults and children, are invited to watch the band and may even appear in the documentary. "Charles Ives and his Holidays Symphony" is the fifth in a series of documentaries by InCA Productions.

Those seeking additional information may call Nancy Sudik, executive director of the Danbury Music Centre, 203-748-1716, or e-mail dmc1935@snet. net.

Joe Barron

Tought you guys would be interested in how MTT's documentary is coming along:

Capturing Ives' vibes
PBS documentary on Danbury composer employs Danbury, New Fairfield bands


By John Pirro
THE NEWS-TIMES
 
BETHEL -- The Danbury Brass Band stood at the top of the hill, prepared to march toward the camera and play "Columbia, Gem of the Ocean." A few hundred yards away, the Danbury High School Marching Band stood ready to perform "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."
Silence fell over the crowd as director Emma Cott of InCA Productions raised the loudspeaker to her lips to start the camera rolling.

Suddenly, from the nearby woods, a baby began crying. Not missing a beat, sound man Dan Gleisch deadpanned, "Wild babies were common in Ives' time," and spectators erupted in laughter.

It may be true that none of Charles Ives' musical compositions included a squalling infant as part of the score. Neither did the Danbury-born composer's creations incorporate the sound of aircraft flying overhead, although it's a fair bet that had jets existed when Ives was writing, he would have found a way to use them.

When television viewers tune in to the Public Broadcasting System's documentary on Ives scheduled to be aired in late 2009, neither babies' cries nor jet engines will be part of the soundtrack. But they were two of the distractions the film crew had to overcome when they turned part of Putnam Park into an outdoor recording studio Sunday afternoon.

What viewers will hear, and see are the two musical groups converging on each other while simultaneously paying two different patriotic marches in different keys and different tempos.

"Ives had this thing about two different bands," said tuba player Tom Griffin of East Haven, one of several musicians from around the state recruited to join the Danbury Brass Band for the session. "It's going to be quite unique because it's only going to be a minor second apart."

The sounds of two bands playing was one of the earliest musical influences imparted to Ives by his father, George, a former Civil War military band leader and a leading musician of his time.

Part of the documentary being filmed on Sunday dealt with Ives' early life. Danbury's Wooster Cemetery will be the set for an early film session today, when the New Fairfield High School Marching Band will play.

Trying to play one's own instrument while being serenaded by another band playing something else was a trick few of the musicians had previously encountered.

"It was hard to hear the drum line," said Danbury High trumpeter Mike Bovin. "Once you lose the drum line, the music just falls apart."

A crowd of about 50 people watched the filming. Some, like Wanda Bropleh, whose son, Nahba, a Newtown High School trumpeter playing with the Brass Band, came because they knew someone who was performing.

Others, like David Close of Wilton and his wife, Ann, of Wilton, just happened upon it.

"We came out with our granddaughter to see the museum. We didn't even know this was happening," Close said.

High school band director Nick Albano said his students probably wouldn't fully appreciate the experience until they see themselves on TV.

"Right now, standing around in full uniform for hours, I don't think they're feeling the excitement," Albano said.




PetroHead

Ives was great.

The second movement of his Fourth Symphony and the Fourth of July Symphony hold a very special significance for me. The former along with Penderecki's Threnody are the defining moments of my modern classical listening history.