Charles Ives (1874-1954)
Set No.1 (assembled c. 1915-16)
Set No.2 (assembled c. 1916-17)
Set No.3 (assembled c. 1919)
Set No.4 ‘Three Poets and Human Nature’ (assembled c. 1925-30)
Set No.5 ‘The Other Side of Pioneering or Side Lights on American Enterprise (assembled c. After1925)
Set No.6 ‘From the Side Hill’ (assembled c. 1925-30)
Set No.7 ‘Water Colors’ (assembled c. 1925-30)
Set No.8 ‘Songs without Voices’ (assembled c. 1930)
Set No.9 of Three Pieces (assembled ? 1934)
Set for Theatre Orchestra (assembled c. 1915)
Orchestra New England/James Sinclair
rec. 2022, Colony Hall, Choate Rosemary Hall, Wallingford, USA
Naxos 8.559917 [68]
In the liner of his excellent disc “Charles Ives An American Journey” conductor Michael Tilson-Thomas wrote; “Ives’s music is gleeful, goofy, ecstatic, and nostalgic, but always in the service of his larger goal, which is like Mahler’s: to create a whole musical world”. The conductor of the current disc Ives scholar James Sinclair adds; “these Sets may be the greatest showcase of [Ives’] kaleidoscopic creativity, and the most colorful outings in all of his output.” Accepting the latter statement it comes as something of a surprise to note that four of the Sets are receiving world-premiere recordings here. Important to note that these are completely different works from the three Orchestral Sets which have been variously recorded including by Sinclair for Naxos in Malmö.
Sinclair outlines how Ives was influenced by hearing small theatre ensembles in his youth. The essence of this type of ensemble was a fluid instrumental line-up with music cross-cued to be played by as many or as few players as were present and a piano/musical director “filling in” as required. The implication is of an often chaotic but certainly colourful result and the particular genius of Ives in these works is how completely and effectively he creates his own unique sound-world using limited resource and short time scales – thirty one of the thirty nine tracks on this CD run to two minutes or less. Another key aspect of these works is that they are in the main instrumental versions of songs by Ives. To that end the booklet very usefully – indeed importantly – includes what is termed the “underlying texts”. Very often Ives assiduously illustrates the texts in the settings so this is a valuable point of reference for the listener not least because Ives reworks some of the songs several times across the complete set.
Curiously these fascinating and indeed characteristic works are little-represented in the catalogue. The Ensemble Modern under Ingo Metzmacher recorded Set 1, parts of Set 2 and 3 as well as the Set for Theatre Orchestra for EMI in 1992. I do not know that version but I do know the only other disc to come anywhere near this new recording in terms of completeness. This was recorded for Argo/Decca in 1993 by Richard Bernas conducting Music Projects London. Bernas included Sets 1-3 complete plus the complete Theatre Orchestra set plus excerpts from Sets 5-7. However, this disc scores regarding the song heritage of these works by including the original songs as the second half of the programme. One feature that is clear regardless of which performance is listened to – just how ‘modern’ this music continues to sound. Assembled across a twenty year period, the earlier sets dating from around 1915-1919 still challenge musical convention a century after they were written.
For completeness and the use of authoritative editions this new disc overseen by Sinclair goes unchallenged. However sovereign academic authority does not guarantee the best musical performance. The playing of the Orchestra New England on this recent disc is very good but to my ear wherever comparisons can be made between Sinclair and Bernas, the older performances are preferable. This is a combination of both engineering and execution. The Decca engineering even though it is 30 years old has an air and clarity as well as a well-defined soundstage that really helps the listening ear decipher the often complex and overlapping instrumental textures. In comparison the Naxos engineering sounds just a little tubby and “cluttered”. Also, the actual playing – especially by wind and brass principals in London has a character and personality that trumps the American group. Aiding this sense of character and theatricality, Bernas chooses tempi that consistently are a little brighter, a little sassier than the fractionally cautious Sinclair. Likewise rhythms are a tad tighter with a strut and snap that seems wholly appropriate. Choose just about any track that appears on both discs and you will hear what I mean. In the Inn (Potpurri) – the middle movement of the Set for Theatre Orchestra [track38] is a good example. Actually here the basic tempi are almost identical but somehow with Bernas the spirit of a boozy faintly delirious night is evoked whereas Sinclair feels more concerned with accuracy. Now of course it may well be that Sinclair is performing these with total editorial accuracy but to my ignorant ear the Music Projects performances seem to embody the spirit of what I think this music should sound like better. Copies of the Decca CD are hard/expensive to find but it can be streamed on various platforms.
As mentioned, the value of this new disc for the Ives enthusiast rests in its completeness and its use of the latest most authoritative editions. Also of genuine interest is comparing and contrasting how Ives set and re-set the same basic material. A good example is the presence of the original version of The Unanswered Question which appears here as the third movement of Set No.9 Three Pieces [track 33] but even this relatively familiar piece receives a performance that lacks the mystery and magic of other versions. Certainly a strength of this new disc is the way that it amply demonstrates the breadth and richness of Ives’ musical inspiration. Sinclair suggests in his liner that the essentially small-form of these pieces worked in the favour of Ives the part-time and weekend composer allowing him to pour into these compressed structures the essence of his creative ethos. Indeed for the unconvinced listener for whom the sprawling scale of the extended orchestral works may be a symphonic collage too far these condensed but wholly Ivesian miniatures may be just the pieces to try.
This is a valuable and indeed important addition to Naxos’ extensive catalogue of the music of Charles Ives and is likely to function as the reference set for these works for the foreseeable future. Indeed, there is much to enjoy here although the niggling doubt that a little more expressive freedom and musical risk-taking could have produced even more compelling results.
Nick Barnard
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