CHARLES IVES (1874–1954) Volume 2

 

Symphony No 1 [37'22]

1 Allegro (con moto) [11'35]

2 Adagio molto (sostenuto) DAVID MATTHEWS cor anglais [8'29]

3 Scherzo: Vivace [4'16]

4 Allegro molto [12'50]

 

Symphony No 4 [30'57]

5 Prelude: Maestoso [3'14]

6 Comedy: Allegretto [10'52]

7 Fugue: Andante moderato con moto [8'01]

8 Very slowly (Largo maestoso) [8'45] with DANAIL RACHEV assistant conductor, DALLAS SYMPHONY CHORUS directed by DAVID R DAVIDSON

9 Central Park in the Dark [9'46]

 

Dallas Symphony Orchestra / Andrew Litton

 

The idiosyncratic nature of Ives’s early musical training (simultaneous but competing marching bands, etc) is well known, but before we can delight in its fruits, we find Ives-the-student writing a (relatively) conventional Symphony No 1 under the watchful, if not always approving, stare of his tutor. The result is almost a pastiche of all that we know and love from the late-nineteenth century symphonic tradition: Brahms, Dvorvák, Tchaikovsky.

 

Released from college in 1898, Ives rapidly shook off such influences, entered a new century and set about expanding his extraordinary vision through three further symphonies, culminating in the spiritual marathon of the fourth, which - Ives tells us - poses (and answers, threefold) the cosmic questions ‘what?’ and ‘why?’.

 

Alongside the four symphonies we have Central Park in the Dark, and an Ives-sanctioned orchestral arrangement of his most popular (and outrageous) solo song, General William Booth Enters into Heaven. The commanding baritone of Donnie Ray Albert tells the story of General Booth—founder of the Salvation Army—approaching the pearly gates, the great

unwashed in his following (Dallas Symphony Chorus) assured of being ‘washed in the blood of the Lamb’: Hallelujah!

 

Hyperion SACD SACDA67540

Listen:

Ives: Symphony No 1 - Scherzo: Vivace