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Charles Ives: Songs, Vol. 2 | 
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| Creators: Michael Cavalieri, Rob Gardner, David Pittsinger, Charles Ives, Janna Baty, Leah Wool, Mary Phillips, Tamara Mumford, Frederick Teardo, Douglas Dickson, Eric Trudel, J.j. Penna, Laura Garritson, Heather Buck, Jennifer Casey Cabot, Lielle Berman, Sara Jakubiak, Sumi Kittelberger, Kenneth Tarver, Matthew Plenk
Label: Naxos American
Category: Music
List Price: $9.98
Buy New: $5.06
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Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 152037
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
UPC: 636943927021
EAN: 0636943927021
ASIN: B001AE4PEW
Release Date: July 29, 2008
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| Customer Reviews:
 The bar remains high, despite one or two disappointments August 17, 2008
Dace Gisclard (Houston, TX)
Ives's songs are routinely assigned nowadays in university degree programs. Unfortunately, as is the case with most composers, what is actually performed constitutes only a fraction of his vast output, i.e., the same dozen or so songs are programmed ad nauseam, and the rest are ignored. Hopefully, this affordably priced and well-performed series will help to change that situation. At least half of the songs here are unfamiliar to me, and that gives me the delight of discovery!
Some listeners may be surprised to encounter Ives setting French, German and Italian texts, but such is the case here. Even Fischer-Dieskau thought the setting of "Feldeinsamkeit" compared more than favorably with that of Brahms. It reminds me of Wolf's chromatic adventurousness. Had I been told that "Elegie" (a setting of Louis Gallet) was a newly-discovered melodie by Chausson or Hahn, I would have believed it!
I particularly like the way these young performers--few of them could be much over 30--seem to be "channeling" the mindset of Ives's era. The expression of patriotism (in college intellectual circles, at least) is nowadays considered, sadly, to be in bad taste. Here, the patriotic sentiments might be a bit jingo but are not "kidded," or disclaimed with a dualistic wink at the audience. The sentimental ballads, too, are sung with convincing sincerity. The leering promiscuity that cheapens much of our contemporary expression of so-called "love" would be out of place here. On the other hand, Ives's wildest rhythmic and atonal experiments are conquered by these capable performers with an ease that belies the daunting challenges.
As with Vol.I, I withheld the fifth star because of a few disappointments: first, since this series will progress through the songs in alphabetical order, I'm surprised that "Duty" is not included here.
Next, although I personally prefer "The Greatest Man" sung by a female voice "en travestie," or, better still, a boy treble--there are kids today that can easily toss off this song. The tenor here does his best, but sounds a little long in the tooth to be expressing such boyish hero-worship. One might say it's an adult's remembrance from childhood, but the eulogizing parts are sung in the PRESENT tense--but that's just my personal taste.
A more serious complaint is what seems to me the wrong-headed interpretation of "General William Booth Enters Into Heaven." Yes, it's just ONE song, but it's one of the Everests of the Ivesian canon. There's nothing wrong here with the actual execution. I've played the piece and know just how transcendentally difficult it is. Both performers receive well-earned top marks for technical accuracy, but I disagree with the singer's interpretive slant. Perhaps I'm misinterpreting Lindsay's great poem, and Ives's intentions, but I DON'T see this as a eulogy to Booth, as the notes (I think wrongly) describe it. Far from it, it is an indictment of "personality preacher" cults. Here, not only do the zealots confuse the sun with the finger pointing to it (Booth), but the finger begins to believe IT is the sun. Jesus is ignored ("Booth saw not") as Booth and his followers march "round and round" the square, immersed in the contemplation of their own self-righteousness. But it is Jesus who performs the miracle at the end of the song. The present performance comes off as an earnest eulogy of Booth. Perhaps wasn't the singer's intent, but that's the way it sounds, and that is certainly NOT the theme of the poem. Give me Marni Nixon and John McCabe--a performance that projects the ugliness of shrieking extremism in ANY ideology, not just the "Christian" one of the present case. This isn't a benign depiction of the "quaint" religious fads of a bygone era, and shouldn't sound that way. I wouldn't care so much about this if "Booth" weren't such an important work.
Despite these probably very personal objections, again, thanks to NAXOS for bringing forth this series that will be useful to students and teachers alike, at a price that shouldn't break even a student budget!
P.S. The booklet contains detailed notes on each song, but texts are not included. Those offered on the NAXOS website are incomplete, although there are many websites offering art song texts. Also, the booklet miscredits track 10 to the tenor who sings the next track. To these ears, it sounds like the mezzo-soprano who sang track 9!
 Ives's Songs from D to G August 11, 2008
Robin Friedman (Washington, D.C. United States)
The American composer Charles Ives (1874 -- 1954) wrote over 200 songs, many of which Ives included in a volume he published in 1922 titled simply "114 songs." Although many recordings are available of Ives's songs, this Naxos CD is the second volume of an ambitious series which will make Ives's songs available in their entirety at a budget price. The CDs are part of Naxos's "American Classics" series and make a worthy and exciting venture indeed. The project features many rising singers and acccompanists all of whom are associated with the Yale School of Music. The series was recorded at Yale in 2005. The Yale connection is appropriate. Ives attended Yale and studied with the early American composer Horatio Parker.
The Naxos recordings present the songs in alphabetical order, which makes them effectively musically random, and captures the kaleidescopic, iconoclastic character of Ives's art. Many of Ives's early songs are heavily influenced by German lieder or by American parlor songs. The songs of his latter years are as adventurous as anything Ives wrote. Each volume of this series thus captures Ives in microcosm as a song composer.
This second volume of the series features 26 Ives's songs begining alphabetically with "December" (1913) and concluding with "Grass" (1896). The performers include 14 singers, four pianists, and an organist. The organ appears on chronologically the earliest song on this CD, the hymn- like "Far From My Heav'nly Home" (1893). Ives's early and late, traditional and revolutionary are each represented.
The highlight of this CD is Ives's 1914 setting of Vachel Lindsay's "General William Booth Enters into Heaven" a poem in its character and enthusiam made for Ives. Lindsay's poem and Ives's song capture the spirit of the founder of the Salvation Army as he ascends into heaven accompanied by the poor, the lost and the damned that Booth has brought to salvation. "Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?" the songs asks. In its raw liveliness, enthusiasm, changes of mood, and transcendentalism, this song is one of Ives's greatest efforts in the form. The bass David Pittsinger gives a convincing performance accompanied by pianist Douglas Dickson. This song alone is worth the price of admission.
Other songs on this CD that I enjoyed include "The Greatest Man" (1921) which sets a poem by Anne Collins. This song becomes Ives's robust tribute to his own father, a band leader in Connecticut, who encouraged his son to develop his large musical gift. The song "Grantchester" (1920), sets a poem by Rupert Brooke and is a nostalgic look at a quiet, peaceful English village before WW I. In "A Farewell to Land" (1909), Ives sets Lord Byron to music both subtle and nuanced. The song "Evening" (1921) sets a text by Milton to music of quiet intensity. Some of the impressive early songs include "Friendship", (1898), on the relationship bewteen friendship and love, the love song "Eyes so Dark" (1902), and Ives's tribute to his Yale alma mater "Flag Song" (1900).
I am enjoying the opportunity to hear Ives the American song composer in this series by Naxos. Long undervalued, these songs are an important part of Ives's output and a major achievement in American art song. The CD includes good annotations on each of the songs but no texts or translations (a number of the songs are in German). The poems by Lindsay, Brooke, Milton, Byron of course, are easily accessible. Some of the texts are available on the Naxos website. These is also an excellent website, the Lied and Art song text page, which includes many of the lyrics for the Ives songs.
Robin Friedman
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