Charles Ives: Odds and Ends that Somehow Work
This is a wonderful collection of odds and ends. And with Charles Ives, odd is good!
The student takes a standard repertoire piano piece and arranges it for orchestra. Ives' orchestrations follow the constructions of the originals. But his mixture of instruments and even added music, preview his mature work.
Ives was an early adapter of ragtime. It was considered vulgar by most classical composers. Ives doubled down on that prejudice. He based his Four Ragtime Dances on familiar hymn tunes. It's an Ivesian mixture of the sacred and profane.
The most ambitious work on the album is the Set of Incomplete Works and Fragments. These are fragments of pieces by Ives written throughout his life.
James Sinclair arranged and orchestrated them into something that works musically. And something that sounds true to the composer.
Two orchestras participate in this release. The Orchestra New England and the Orquesta Sinfonica de Navarra both give impressive performances. Ives is all about juxtaposition. It could be two or more keys played together. Or instrumental groups playing different tunes in different meters simultaneously. These place extraordinary demands on the performers. Both orchestras display a high degree of musicianship in handling these challenges.
This album is definitely one for the Ives completist. But it's also an entertaining listen for anyone wanting to hear something completely different.
Charles Ives: Orchestral Works
Four Ragtime Dances; Set of Incomplete Works and Fragments; Arrangements
Orchestra New England; Orquesta Sinfonica de Navarra; James Sinclair, conductor
Naxos
