Naxos American
2005
Charles Ives: Three Quarter-Tone Pieces; Five Take-offs; Hallowe'en; Sunrise
About This Album
Charles Ives: Piano, Chamber & Vocal Works is Naxos American Classics' reissue of a stimulating and magnificently well-played album originally appearing on the Musical Heritage Society label, recorded in 1986 and 1987. Joel Sachs and Cheryl Seltzer are pianists who play as a duo, and separately, within the Continuum ensemble. In the selection of six Ives songs presented here they make an intelligent choice: that four hands (or at least three) are better than two when it comes to some of Ives' blackest piano music, whether scored on two staves or not. The Housatonic at Stockbridge is one of Ives' loveliest songs, and it is nice to hear it performed without the singer having to hang onto a note or phrase to allow the accompanist to finish rolling out a big chord that has more notes than most pianists have fingers.

Two of Ives' rarest and most difficult songs are performed here; On the Antipodes, recorded, not well, as a choral piece back in the '60s by the Gregg Smith Singers and Aeschylus and Sophocles, and seemingly not recorded before or since. A remarkable strength possessed by Continuum is its modularity. If Ives suggests in some stray patch that a string quartet playing a single chord can be added to the last two bars of a song written for voice and piano, Continuum will say "let's do it" rather than "this is too much trouble just for one chord." The chamber pieces are a real delight -- you'll not find better recordings of In Re Con Moto et al or Hallowe'en than this one. In Hallowe'en, Continuum takes special care to observe Ives' dynamic indications, and it makes all the difference in the world. The chamber version of The Gong on the Hook and Ladder, originally published in 1936 under the erroneous title of "Calcium Light," is like Aeschylus and Sophocles unique to this collection.

The recital concludes with fine performances of Ives' Five Take-Offs and Three-Quarter Tone Pieces. If you love the music of Charles Ives, it is an imperative to obtain Continuum's Charles Ives: Piano, Chamber & Vocal Works. ~ Uncle Dave Lewis, All Music Guide
Track List

The Housatonic At Stockbridge, Song For Voice & Piano, S. 266 (K. 6B64d)
1.
Soliloquy, Song For Voice & Piano, S. 352 (K. 6B43a)
2.
On The Antipodes, Song For Voice & 2 Pianos, S. 319 (K. 6b71)
3.
The Gong On The Hook & Ladder Or Firemen's Parade On Main Street For Strings, Piano & Optional Bell, S. 70 (K. 1C30)
4.
Hallowe'en, For String Quartet, Piano & Optional Drum, S. 71 (K. 2B13)
5.
In Re Con Moto Et Al., For String Quartet, Piano & Optional Drum, S. 72 (K. 2B18)
6.
Sunrise, Song For Voice, Piano & Violin, S. 365 (K. 6B77)
7.
Remembrance, For Voice & Piano, S. 332 (K. 6B62a)
8.
Aeschylus And Sophocles, Song For Voice, Piano & String Quartet, S. 206 (K. 6B70)
9.
Set Of Five Take-Offs, For Piano, S. 122 (K. 3B16)
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
Quarter-Tone Pieces (3), For 2 Pianos, S. 128 (K. 3C3)
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17.