Sick Songs

1. Action High

2. I'll Be Standing (On My Own)

3. Not With You

4. Pure and Simple

5. I Wish I Could

6. Learn to Burn

7. Back at You

8. Clockwise

9. Out There (F-Word)

Sick Songs,Electric Frankenstein,Valley Media, Inc,Alternative Pop/Rock,Garage Punk,Punk,Punk Revival

Average customer rating: A European modernist embraces Ives Great Performances, but the Star of this CD is Charles Ives works grow and transform themselves a fresh take on sonata no. 2 It takes a Frenchman to capture an American masterpiece!

Ives: Concord Sonata; Songs Pierre-Laurent Aimard , Susan Graham , and Charles Ives Manufacturer: Warner Classics ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Ives, Charles | ( I ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Sonatas | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Ives, Charles | Composers | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Sonatas | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Vocal & Song | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Keyboard | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Modern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Similar Items: Ives: Violin Sonatas Nos. 1-4 Ives: An American Journey Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit; Carter: Night Fantasies; Two Diversions; 90+ Charles Ives: Songs Charles Ives: Symphony No. 2 / The Gong on the Hook & Ladder, or Firemen's Parade on Main Street / Tone Roads No. 1 / Hymn: Largo Cantabile, for String Orchestra / Hallowe'en / Central Park in the Dark / The Unanswered Question - Leonard Bernstein / New York Philharmonic ASIN: B0001HZ6MO Release Date: 2004-05-11

Tracks:

1. The Things Our Fathers Loved
2. The Housatonic At Stockbridge
3. From The Swimmers
4. Memories (A - Very Pleasant, B - Rather Sad
5. Ann Street
6. Serenity (A Unison Chant)
7. 1, 2, 3
8. Songs My Mother Taught Me
9. The Circus Band
10. The Cage
11. The Indians
12. Like A Sick Eagle
13. A Sound Of A Distant Horn
14. September
15. Soliloquy (Or A Study In 7ths And Other Things)
16. A Farewell To Land
17. Thoreau
18. Emerson
19. Hawthorne
20. The Alcotts
21. Thoreau

Amazon.com

Ives' Second Sonata is one of the toughest, but it holds no fears for Aimard, a noted interpreter of Messiaen, Ligetti, and other moderns who require virtuoso technique and idiomatic expertise. Each of its four movements is titled for New England luminaries: Emerson, Hawthorne, the Alcotts, and Thoreau. The longest, "Emerson," is knotty and energetic, bristling with a minefield of cluster chords. "Hawthorne" is a genial scherzo exhibiting a wider palette, while "The Alcotts" is a lyrical paean to domestic tranquility. "Thoreau" embraces the mysteries of nature, played with intensity by Aimard. There's an abundance of power in his playing, but also ravishing effects like the startling diminuendo in "Thoreau" and the array of marches, hymns, and parlor songs Ives threw into the mix. His terrific "Concord" Sonata is matched by the survey of Ives' inventive songs, 17 of them superbly sung by Susan Graham with Aimard superb as her piano partner. Graham captures every nuance of a mind-boggling variety of idioms, from nostalgia, tenderness, and hilarious miniatures like "Ann Street" and the sendup of opera in "Memories - A," among many other highlights. This one's a must for Ivesians, fans of musical eccentricity, modern music enthusiasts, and anyone in search of musical surprises, which abound on almost every track. --Dan Davis

Customer Reviews:

A European modernist embraces Ives.......2007-01-08

Chalres Ives was 46 when he published his "Concord"Sonata, and as the liner notes tell us, its sprawling shape and diverse styles are the result of gathering a lot of music previously composed (none of it for solo piano) and needing a single dwelling. Ives always had his own ideas about how music is held together or flies apart. He wasn't afraid to have it fly apart, and often his notion of coherence was so private, rooted in personal memories, that an outside listener can't be expected to penetrate the associations.

Aimard goes a long way in erasing the ecdentricity, privacy, and quirkiness of Ives's idiom bydrawing the sonata into the mainstream of European modernism, giving it the same clean, detailed, accurate, and impressionistic style that he might give to other individualists like Ligeti and Messiaen. (It's also nice to have the viola addition to the first movement and the flute in the fourth.) The "Concord" Sonata becomes a virtuosic event in his hands, no longer a purely "American" sport. I do find that listening to this vast work is better in concert, where its appearance is always a special occasion. But one has to be grateful for Aimard's quantum leap in execution compared to earlier recordings.

Ives gathered his huge output of 114 songs into a collection two years after the sonata. Susan Graham picks 15 of them, adding two more that folowed after 1922. These songs ask for a vocal chameleon who can shift instantly from Victorian parlor style to patriotic exuberance, folk song, whimsy, rapt nostaliga, and more. No one to date has been able to encompass this enormous range of expression, but Susan Graham comes as close as any. I would rank her with Jan De Gaetani, Thomas Hampson, and William Sharp among the singers I know who excel in Ives, and above the too-classical, somewhat congested renditions by Marilyn Horne and Jennifer Lamore. Aimard's accompaniment misses the Yankee flavor of the marches and patriotic snatches, but in its modernist way his style is as effective as in the sonata. Highly recommended for lovers of this music.

Great Performances, but the Star of this CD is Charles Ives.......2005-08-10

The uniquely atypical music of Charles Ives continues to mature and embed itself in the minds of larger and larger audiences every year. Practically every major orchestra in this country (and in Europe) now includes at least his symphonies in the standard repertoire. His music is probably as 'American' as any composed, so conjoined with literature and history and folksongs and all manner of Americana. This superb recording takes us one step further in appreciating Ives' gifts: his breathtaking Concord Sonata is coupled with one of the finest selections of his many songs and both sonata and songs are performed with consummate skill by pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard and mezzo soprano Susan Graham.

Aimard's approach to this big piano work is one of direct approach to the complexities of line and mood and in that approach he doesn't allow his own personality to blur Ives' message. Aimard can tackle the impossibly difficult passages and keep them transparent: he can also find the inner quiet beauty as well as any other pianist. The result is a Concord Sonata of majesty and honest simplicity.

Susan Graham has long included Ives' songs in her recitals and that experience shows in her approach to this varied selection. Graham is an immensely intelligent musician, one who can find the meaning of even a brief song in an instant. She is in fine vocal form here, and her collaboration with Aimard completes a presentation that will be difficult to match. This is a fine recording and an excellent entry point for music lovers who may have been wary of Ives' challenges. Relax and enjoy this recital. Grady Harp, August 05

works grow and transform themselves.......2005-04-07

First off this is an Ives cornocopia of songs, all sung here with the reserve that is needed, I've heard too many American art Songs, Copland, Rorem and Ives with that wrongheaded "sing-songin" delivery, it is arrogant if nothing else, and the "cutsy-ness" of it does reach the audience,unless you simply want to be entertained and you checked your brain with your cash at the box office. Straightforward Ives is I think to most effective way of playing his music,that's why I still prefer the Kalish, he brings a gritti-ness to the Concord. Aimard (and all of us) has had time since the Seventies to think and re-think this piece, and there something should be said for the way music grows, transforms itself for different time periods, isn't that why music develops itself it is striongly constituted in the first place, it is well thought through, et cetra, construction all the obvious, Copland's "Piano Variations" is a similar example, the music simply changes with time, well we change, the music is fixed.So I guess there are simply different readings.

Aimard does bring some nice clarity,like to "Hawthorne", the blazing quickness searching until the "forearm" clusters stop the flow, the onward rush of the imagination, words can change the meaning of themselves this quickly which I think is what Ives saw in Hawthorne the writer.

For the "Alcotts" any kind of nostalgia is OK with me,the simple Bb triad timbres capturing the informed naivtivitee of the little home with Bronson Alcott the speaker public man of speaking (there is a difference between public speaking and lecturer,someone who teaches as opposed to simply speaking something Bush II knows quite well.Better simply to speak without saying anything.) This is not here however for Ives loved the Utopian aspect of Danbury existential renderings, the reflections back and forth of the lifeworld, the richness of culture of the complexity of the word,place, song, timbre,all in forms of strength all mixed blending together. Aimard simply brings things out I;ve never heard before, but then that is his approach always to clarify,and that is not always the best approach in Ives where his music does ask questions, his music we have learned should be opaque, and unexplanable,terse yet convoluted; it should not lead you by the nose at each and every moment.And Aimard I;m afraid does want to lead here. I think he thinks the opaqueness will happen by itself, its already in the music, he lets this occur in the fast sections,making it a pure texture,like Debussy, I guess Ives was an existential impressionist with transcendental content.

a fresh take on sonata no. 2.......2004-07-28

I have a slightly different view than with the previous review, as well as the Davis review. If you are a fan of Ives (you probably are if you are interested in this cd), then you may not need to bother with half of this cd. Messo Susan Graham is quite out of touch with the character studies of these wonderful songs. When she isn't yodelling many times louder than she ought to on some high notes to demonstrate her vocal command, she becomes the epitomy of boredom and banality. I imagine Ben Stein could give a more lifelike reading of 'The Circus Band'. The jovial cheer "hear the trombones!" sounds more akin to a yawn on this version. Since when did shear vocal power and sonic richness take such high precedence over interpretive skills? Have you really forgotten Jan de Gaetani's wonderous versions? I feel Graham has done a disservice to this music, and should probably go back to singing French arias which apparently she is quite good at.

The Concord Sonata is definetly the reason you may want to own this disc. Aimard is outstanding as per usual. Emerson does really come alive here, as does Hawthorne with it's dramtic tempo shifts. My main concern lies in the 3rd movement 'the Alcotts'. It is clearly a pastorale movement with a touch of sweet nostalgia. Aimard plays a little too deliberately here- not loose enough with the tempo or lively enough with the rhythms. That really is the only disadvantage. I don't think Aimard played the folk elements strongly enough.
I guess the main question is: if I own the Kalish recording of the Sonata, do I need this one too? Probably again, you are an Ives believer and this version has great insights- why not. Like the Kalish version, this one includes the optional viola line on Emerson and the flute part of Thoreau. They appear better realised with more dramatic impact on the Kalish recording- a minor point. Movement for movement Aimard has the first and seccond, but I prefer 3 and 4 on the Kalish. The 3rd mentioned above, and the fourth seems to have more gravity with Kalish, bringing more of a closure to the tempestuous nature of the work. Aimard shows a more whispy, impressionistic take as he also does at the start of Hawthorne, reminding of Debussy. Not inappropriate stylistically speaking, but definetly a matter of taste. Aimard is a winner and I love what he does for Ligeti and Messiaen. Overall a very successful Ives sonata, and a questionably performed set of songs, well-chosen as they might be. If you are new to Ives this should be enough to get you into further explorations.

It takes a Frenchman to capture an American masterpiece!.......2004-05-19

The "Concord Sonata" of Charles Ives has been described as "the greatest work written by an American." It's a big sprawling, glorious mess of a thing, inspired by the Transcendental writers Emerson, Hawthorne, Alcott and Thoreau. I first heard the ground-breaking version by John Kirkpatrick, and have long cherished the powerful account by Gilbert Kalish (recorded in the '70s). But hearing Pierre-Laurent Aimard play this piece makes me forget all about those earlier recordings. A specialist in Messian and Ligeti, Aimard plays Ives like one to the manner born. Forget any preconceived notions of what it means to be a "French pianist," and let this astonishing performance carry you away. The Alcotts movement has never felt so tender, and the Thoreau movement is likewise exquisitely balanced. Perhaps most enthralling is how he manages to give shape and sense to Emerson, and Hawthorne, the fiendishly hard scherzo, has never had a reading like this. I'd have been content with the sonata, but the disk also holds the gorgeous mezzo Susan Graham singing 17 Ives songs, with Aimard's brilliant accompaniments. A fabulous recording no serious American music collection should be without!

Average customer rating:

The Complete Songs of Charles Ives, Vol. 3 Manufacturer: Albany Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Ives, Charles | ( I ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Ives, Charles | Composers | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Vocal & Song | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General Contemporary | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Modern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Similar Items: The Complete Songs of Charles Ives, Vol. 2 The Complete Songs of Charles Ives, Vol. 1 The Complete Songs, Vol. 4 Charles Ives: Three Quarter-Tone Pieces; Five Take-offs; Hallowe'en; Sunrise Charles Ives: Songs ASIN: B0000049MM Release Date: 1995-02-16

Tracks:

1. He Is There!
2. Weil' auf mir
3. The Cage
4. My Native Land
5. The Childrens' Hour
6. Old Home Day
7. Soliloquy
8. Illmenau
9. The See
10. Autumn
11. Pictures
12. Walt Whitman
13. Mists
14. Walking
15. A Farewell To Land
16. Luck And Work
17. Camp Meeting
18. Charlie Rutlage
19. His Exaltation
20. Watchman!
21. Vote For Names
22. From 'Lincoln The Great Commoner'
23. Lick A Sick Eagle
24. From 'The Swimmers'
25. At The River
26. Requiem
27. Afterglow
28. General William Booth Enters Into Heaven
29. To Edith
30. Religion
31. The New River
32. Down East
33. The Things Our Fathers Loved
34. In Flanders Fields
35. Tom Sails Away
36. They Are There

Average customer rating:

A.E. Housman: A Shropshire Lad, Complete in verse and song Alan Bates , Anthony Rolfe Johnson , and Graham Johnson Manufacturer: Hyperion UK ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Baroque Dance Suites | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music | Allemandes | Courantes | Gigue | Sarabande All Works by Barber | Barber, Samuel | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Vocal & Song | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music Compilations | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Modern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Songs & Lieder | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Classical | Imports | Stores | Music ASIN: B00005S85Q Release Date: 2001-12-11

Average customer rating: Deserves Applause!

Orpheus with His Lute - Music for Shakespeare from Purcell to Arne /(English Orpheus, Vol 50) /Bott * Brown * The Parley of Instruments * Holman Manufacturer: Hyperion UK ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Arne | Arne, Thomas Augustin | ( A ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Purcell, Henry | ( P ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Concertos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music General | Purcell, Henry | Composers | Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Flute | Reeds & Winds | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Classical | Imports | Stores | Music ASIN: B0001O2H6U Release Date: 2004-05-11

Customer Reviews:

Deserves Applause!.......2005-07-19

Hyperion 67450 (2003) Spars: DDD

Peter Holman directs the Parley of Instruments featuring Rachel Brown on flute and soprano Catherine Bott in a recording of music composed for performances of Shakespeare's plays by a variety of English composers.

"The Parley of Instruments, Rachel Brown, director Peter Holman and the Hyperion recording team all deserve applause." (Gramophone)

The works on this recording:

1. Overture to Titus Andronicus: Overture
Composed by Jeremiah Clarke (c1674-1707)

2. Overture to Titus Andronicus: Minuet
Composed by Jeremiah Clarke

3. Take, O take those lips away
John Weldon (1676-1736)

4. Can life be a blessing?
John Eccles (c1668-1735)

5. Pardon, goddess of the night
Thomas Chilcot (c1707-1766)

6. Orpheus with his lute
Maurice Greene (1696-1755)

7. Orpheus with his lute
Thomas Chilcot

8. Hark, hark, the lark
Thomas Chilcot

9. To fair Fidele's grassy tomb
Thomas Arne (1710-1778)

10. 10. Concerto No 9 in E minor
Robert Woodcock (1690-1728)

11. When daisies pied and violets blue
Richard Leveridge (1670-1758)

12. When daisies pied and violets blue
Thomas Arne

13. When icicles hang on the wall
Thomas Arne

14. You spotted snakes
John Christopher Smith (1712-1795)

15. Full fathom five
John Christopher Smith

16. All fancy sick
Willem De Fesch (1687-1761)

17. Dry those eyes which are o'erflowing
John Weldon

18. Dear pretty youth
Henry Purcell (1659-1695)

19. Honour, riches, marriage-blessing
Thomas Arne

20. Where the bee sucks, there lurk I
Thomas Arne

Average customer rating:

Song Cycles and Songs by Vaughan Williams, Warlock, Butterworth and Gurney Manufacturer: EMI Records [All429] ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Vaughan Williams, Ralph | ( V ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Warlock | Warlock, Peter | ( W ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Vaughan Williams, Ralph | Composers | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Vocal & Song | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Modern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Songs & Lieder | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Similar Items: Songs by Roger Quilter ASIN: B00005Q2X9 Release Date: 2002-02-05

Tracks:

1. The House Of Life: I. Love-Sight
2. The House Of Life: II. Silent Noon
3. The House Of Life: III. Love's Minstrels
4. The House Of Life: IV. Heart's Haven
5. The House Of Life: V. Death In Love
6. The House Of Life: VI. Love's Last Gift
7. Songs Of Travel: I. The Vagabond
8. Songs Of Travel: II. Let Beauty Awake
9. Songs Of Travel: III. The Roadside Fire
10. Songs Of Travel: IV. Youth And Love
11. Songs Of Travel: V. In Dreams
12. Songs Of Travel: VI. The Infinite Shining Heavens
13. Songs Of Travel: VII. Whither Must I Wander
14. Songs Of Travel: VIII. Bright Is The Ring Of Words
15. Songs Of Travel: IX. I Have Trod The Upward And The Downward Slope

Tracks:

1. The Land Of Lost Content: I. The Lent Killy
2. The Land Of Lost Content: II. Ladslove
3. The Land Of Lost Content: III. Goal And Wicket
4. The Land Of Lost Content: IV. The Vain Desire
5. The Land Of Lost Content: V. The Encounter
6. The Land Of Lost Content: VI. Epilogue
7. Down By The Salley
8. An Epitaph
9. Desire In Spring
10. Black Stitchel
11. A Shropshire Lad: I. Loveliest Of Trees
12. A Shropshire Lad: II. When I Was One-And-Twenty
13. A Shropshire Lad: III. Look Not In My Eyes
14. A Shropshire Lad: IV. Think No More, Lad
15. A Shropshire Lad: V. The Lads In Their Hundreds
16. A Shropshire Lad: VI. Is My Team Ploughing?
17. A Prayer To St. Anthony
18. The Sick Heart
19. My Own Country
20. Passing By
21. Pretty Ring Time

Average customer rating: Connecting with Ives AN OLD FRIEND THE consummate Ives song specialist. beyond words . . . Great music to great lyrics

Charles Ives: Songs Manufacturer: Nonesuch ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Ives, Charles | ( I ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Ives, Charles | Composers | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Vocal & Song | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Modern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Similar Items: A Song - For Anything: Songs by Charles Ives The Complete Songs, Vol. 4 The Complete Songs of Charles Ives, Vol. 3 Ives: When The Moon, Songs Set for Orchestra The Complete Songs of Charles Ives, Vol. 1 ASIN: B000005IVT Release Date: 1992-05-07

Tracks:

1. The Housatonic at Stockbridge (1921)
2. Memories (1897) A - Very Pleasant; B - Rather Sad
3. From
4. The Things Our Fathers Loved (1917)
5. Ann Street (1921)
6. The Innate (1916)
7. The Circus Band (1894)
8. In the Mornin' (1929)
9. Serenity (1919)
10. Majority (1921)
11. Thoreau (1915)
12. At the River (1916)
13. The Indians (1921)
14. The Cage (ca. 1906)
15. Like a Sick Eagle (ca. 1920)
16. A Christmas Carol (1897)
17. A Farewell to Land (1925)

Customer Reviews:

Connecting with Ives.......2005-12-22

For years I was fascinated with the legend (eccentric, brilliant, rich, cantankerous, possibly crazy) of Charles Ives, but I found his music a little elusive. I admired it but never felt much connection. Until I bought this recording and finally "got" Ives.

Other reviewers go into admirable detail and explain just why this disc is so good. I agree with all of them and say that if you have any interest in this great American composer you should check this one out.

AN OLD FRIEND.......2005-07-15

I bought this on vinyl before the advent of CD's It was wonderful then. It still is.

THE consummate Ives song specialist........2004-08-17

There I was recently, in a recording studio with a small but select number of Ives experts. (I was just an invited guest, hardly an expert.) We were spending the day listening to tapes of an Ives centennial celebration concert whose 30th anniversary, coincidentally, just happens to be today, August 17.

Of the works performed in that concert, I was quite taken by the soprano's rendition of "Memories," a 2-part song Ives wrote in 1897 while a Yale undergraduate. I thought it a "magic" moment when, in the first ("Very Pleasant") part of the song, one can bust one's gut laughing, while, in the second ("Rather Sad") part, the soprano had the seeming ability to "rip your heart out"with her ability to capture a sense of nostalgia.

Noted Ives scholar and biographer Jan Swafford describes these two songs as typical of the "Victorian parlor songs" of their era, after the model set by Stephen Foster. Stuart Feder, another Ives scholar and biographer, suggests, in his "The Live of Charles Ives," that the "rather sad" part might allude to Ives's mother. But it is a fact that Ives had barely recovered from the shock of his father's death that had sent him reeling just a few years before. Speaking strictly for myself, I can envision the image of George Edward Ives in the words

"I can see him shuffling down
"To the barn or to the town
"A-humming."

So, perhaps in light of that "read" of mine regarding George Edward Ives, my reaction is understandable. And the soprano's rendition was indeed superb. Regardless, and in any event, one of the Ives experts present at the session said to me, "Aren't you forgetting Jan DeGaetani's recording of the song?"

Well, d'oh! Sure enough, I had forgotten about it. For all the many months I've had this album listed as one of the "essential" Ives recordings, I've managed to fail to comment on it beyond a brief Listmania description. So it's not inappropriate that I use the 30th anniversary of the above-noted Ives concert as a "take-off" for finally commenting on what is unquestionably the finest album of Ives songs ever.

Jan DeGaetani had an illustrious career (regrettably cut short by an all-too-early death from leukemia). A singer of great versatility who essayed works from John Dowland to George Crumb, including a personal favorite that includes song cycles by Hector Berlioz and Gustav Mahler, she will nonetheless always be identified with the songs of Charles Ives, thanks to this album.

This collection contains as wide a variety of Ives songs over his song-writing career as one could imagine in a single-CD album, from the early "The Circus Band" (1894) to "In the Mornin'" (1929, Ives's final essay in the genre).

A few of the songs ("The Housatonic at Stockbridge" [1921], "The Cage" [1906]) represent "Ives the recycler" at his best; they are vocal settings of larger-scale works that Ives had originally written for chamber (or theater) orchestra forces. In fact, "The Housatonic at Stockbridge" (from "Three Places in New England") is a tour de force for vocalist and pianist, endeavoring as it does to capture the impressionism of the orchestral version. DeGaetani and Gilbert Kalish, her superb accompanist who has performed many Ives keyboard works on his own, do indeed turn in a bravura performance in this difficult-to-capture sense of impressionism.

Elsewhere, DeGaetani makes the singing of songs that are by turns atonal, full of awkward interval leaps and of difficult meters seem like child's play, with totally secure vocal technique and intonation. And she perfectly captures the sentimentality of the "easier" songs that, in the hands of a lesser artist, would come across as "vocal marginalia." There is little of Ives that I consider to be such marginalia; it is simply a matter of infusing the songs with the spirit that Ives had endowed them with. And DeGaetani nails every one of them.

Which brings me full circle to "Memories." DeGaetani, like the unnamed soloist of 30 years ago today who reminded me that I had this unfinished business to attend to, will make you laugh until you bust a gut. And then she'll rip your heart out. Just as I believe these two song parts were meant to do.

Needless to say, a keeper!

Bob Zeidler

beyond words . . ........2003-03-24

Wonderful. I could give many technical and musical reasons why this recording is so good but . . . These songs are amongst the best of Ives' works and this presentation is a benchmark in quality.

Great music to great lyrics.......2001-10-13

Like Schubert and Schumann, Ives chose to set the words of fine poets to music -- music of real distinction. Fischer-Dieskau recorded an lp of Ives' songs years ago, but I don't think DG has reissued it. Meanwhile, this is an excellent collection of very approachable Ives. Fischer-Dieskau or not, I wouldn't be without this cd. DeGaetani-Kalish are unbeatable in this music.

Average customer rating:

Songs by Peter Warlock Manufacturer: Hyperion UK ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Warlock | Warlock, Peter | ( W ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Vocal & Song | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Modern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Classical | Imports | Stores | Music Similar Items: The British Music Collection: Peter Warlock The Queen ASIN: B000002ZUP Release Date: 1994-12-15

Tracks:

1. The Wind From The West
2. To The Memory Of A Great Singer
3. Take, O Take Those Lips Away
4. As Ever I Saw
5. The Bayley Berith The Bell Away
6. There Is A Lady Sweet And Kind
7. Lullaby
8. Sweet Content
9. Late Summer
10. The Singer
11. Rest, Sweet Nymphs
12. Sleep
13. A Sad Song
14. In An Arbour Green
15. Autumn Twilight
16. Two Short Songs: I Held Love's Head
17. Tow Short Songs: Thou Gav'st Me Leave To Kiss
18. Yarmouth Fair
19. Pretty Ring Time
20. Two Songs: A Prayer To St Anthony
21. Two Songs: The Sick Heart
22. Robin Goodfellow
23. Jillian Of Berry
24. Fair And True
25. Three Belloc Songs: Ha'nacker Mill
26. Three Belloc Songs: The Night
27. Three Belloc Songs: My Own Country
28. The First Mercy
29. The Lover's Maze
30. Cradle Song
31. Sigh No More, Ladies
32. Passing By
33. The Contented Lover
34. The Fox

Average customer rating: One of the best recitals of 2005 Near Definitive Ives Songbook Handled with Dexterity and Subtlety by Finley and Drake 31 of 114... (please do them all!) The Finest Charles Ives Song Collection Available!

A Song - For Anything: Songs by Charles Ives Manufacturer: Hyperion UK ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Ives, Charles | ( I ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Ives, Charles | Composers | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Vocal & Song | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General Contemporary | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Modern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Classical | Imports | Stores | Music Similar Items: Charles Ives: Songs Songs of Travel Peter Lieberson: Neruda Songs The Complete Songs of Charles Ives, Vol. 3 The Complete Songs of Charles Ives, Vol. 1 ASIN: B000A7XJI8 Release Date: 2005-10-11

Customer Reviews:

One of the best recitals of 2005.......2006-06-09

Over the years, the sparkling, quirky, haunting songs of Charles Ives have been interpreted by many of the world's great singers. I first encountered many of them through Jan DeGaetani's still-moving recording with Gilbert Kalish, which remains one of the best ever of some of these gems.

But now we have a stunning new collection from baritone Gerald Finley, with his fine pianist Julius Drake. They have created not only one of the most definitive readings of Ives' songs to date, but one of the finest recitals of the year, period. The pleasures and surprises are almost too many to list, beginning with Finley's mellifluous voice, immaculate diction, and theatricality that helps shape these songs with unusual clarity. As just one example, consider the first part of "Memories" called "Very Pleasant," evoking the anticipation of sitting in the audience, waiting for a performance to begin. As the final word, the singer blurts out, "Curtain!" and Finley is the only one I've heard who throws his voice far away, as if the shout is coming from one of the stagehands, waiting in the wings. Not only does this make the ending more prototypically "Ives-ian," but the song makes more sense with the unexpected change in point of view.

Some of the quieter songs are just ravishing, such as "Ich Grolle Nicht" and "When stars are in the quiet skies," both with intimacy and control to spare. One of my personal favorites, "Like a sick eagle" (text by Keats), shows Finley's exquisite precision in navigating quarter-tones, creating a languid image of a dying bird slowly circling in the air. Drake is more than just an accompanist in all of these, in piano parts that are often fiendishly complex, such as "General William Booth Enters into Heaven" or the marvelous "The Cage."

The winsome "Ann Street" and poignant "The Greatest Man" both end abruptly, with tiny offhand phrases that Finley nails perfectly. And there are treasures such as the rarely recorded "Slugging a Vampire" -- as swift as the title might indicate -- and the equally delightful "1,2,3."

One could go on and on in endless detail about the entire array of 31 songs (chosen from the 114 available), but the best thing is just to get to the most pleasant part: listening. If I have a small quibble (and make no mistake, it is very small), it is that Hyperion's gorgeous, rather tranquil cover art gives no clue to Ives' wild imagination, and to the blazing work by his two outstanding interpreters here. (It looks more like a cover for something by Delius.) But it hardly matters, when both of these artists are in such rapturous form -- and captured so effectively by Hyperion's engineers. The sound, recorded in All Saints Church, East Finchley (London) is a model for projects of this kind. A release that is sure to go down as one of the finest Ives recordings ever.

Near Definitive Ives Songbook Handled with Dexterity and Subtlety by Finley and Drake.......2006-04-21

I have to admit I've had exposure to relatively unheralded American composer Charles Ives' work only twice in the past - the first was baritone Nathan Gunn's vibrant sampling of three Ives compositions on his 1999 debut recital CD, "American Anthem", and the second was soprano Deborah Voigt's recent recital disc, "All My Heart", in which she impressively opens the recording with seven hymn-like selections. With his acute dramatic sense and unobtrusive masculine tone, Canadian baritone Gerald Finley manages to bring his own impressive vocal shadings and consequently turns out to be the ideal muse for Ives' eclectic and unique song selection. Thirty-one of the composer's over 100 songs are covered here, some as short as 28 seconds ("Slugging the Vampire"), but each very individual in feeling and character.

Expertly accompanied by the accomplished Julius Drake on piano, Finley deftly performs an immensely diverse range of material from the traditional lied format of "Feldeinsamkeit" and "Ich grolle nicht" to the haunting pastoral images of "The Housatonic at Stockbridge" to the youthful zeal of "The Greatest Man" to the swooning romanticism of "When Stars are in the Quiet Skies" to the funereal dirge of "Thoreau". The adventurous sequencing of the tracks also provides the right dynamic to the program. For example, a Brahms-inspired lullaby ("Berceuse") is followed by a passionate diatribe against poverty ("West London"), which is then followed by a sentimental war ballad ("Tom Sails Away"). In one selection, the tonal change occurs midway through the song - the aptly titled "Memories (A) Very Pleasant; (B) Rather Sad" starts out as a jaunty account of an exciting night at the opera, while the second half becomes a wistful piece of nostalgia using the same tune.

My favorite performances on the disc are the stunning evocation of a French chanson, "Elegie"; the highly dramatic poem, "General William Booth Enters Into Heaven", full of jarring of rhythms and shouts of "Hallelujah!" to evoke the religion-fueled stanzas; "Charlie Rutledge", in which Finley evokes a bit over-the-top Texas twang to bring a blackly comic touch to an oddly tragic story; and the touching title song which closes the disc - a moving ballad consisting of three verses from three different sources - a love poem, a psalm and a Yale song - yet together quite compatible. I was quite impressed with Finley's portrayal of Robert Oppenheimer in John Adams' "Doctor Atomic", staged by the San Francisco Opera last fall, and also his moving performance as the title character in Benjamin Britten's "Owen Wingrave" (a 2001 cinematic production on DVD). This recording shows that he is able to translate his dramatic skills with dexterous ease into a recital setting.

31 of 114... (please do them all!).......2005-11-20

I have always wondered why there aren't a few readily-available recordings of the complete 114 songs of Charles Ives. Not just that it would be cheap to produce (piano and vocal only, filling up about 3 CDs), and not just that this is one of the most significant collections of American songs ever written (along with Gershwin's), and not just that these songs loom large in the overall Ives canon along with the Symphonies and Piano Sonatas.... It's mostly that they are just plain enjoyable to listen to and some of the most "accessible" Ives there is. Interestingly, it's a Canadian baritone and a British pianist coming through here with a great selection of 31 Ives songs covering the wide range of moods -- nostalgic, experimental, free-wheeling, silly, profound -- found in these miniature masterpieces. Let's hope they keep going and record the entire 114 (and that Hyperion survives the absurd legal trouble they find themselves in -- help them out by buying some of their CDs this month!)

The Finest Charles Ives Song Collection Available!.......2005-10-17

Charles Ives, that wondrous American iconoclast, wrote 114 songs, songs that vary in content from comedic to nostalgic to patriotic to German lieder (!) to operatic. Here brilliant baritone Gerald Finley and his gifted piano collaborator Julius Drake have selected a fine range of that output in 31 songs that not only demonstrate the spectrum of Ives' creativity, but also give notice that Canadian Gerald Finley may just be the foremost authority on how Ives' songs should be performed.

Included in no particular order (except thoughtful programming!) are such very familiar songs as 'General William Booth Enters into Heaven', 'When stars are in the quiet skies', 'Serenity', 'Tolerance', and 'Ann Street' along with the lesser known early German lieder composed in his early formative years. One of the revelations on this elegant recital is 'The Housatonic at Stockbridge' which lends text to the extraordinary last movement of Ives' orchestral 'Three Places in New England'.

Finley's diction is impeccable and his baritone voice is pliant throughout his wide range. He conveys the essence of these texts as well as any interpreter ever has. Julius Drake provides exemplary piano accompaniment. This is one of the finest recordings released this year. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, October 05

Average customer rating: The return of REAL punk rock Your sick if you dont buy SICK SONGS

Sick Songs Electric Frankenstein Manufacturer: Nesak International ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Punk | Hardcore & Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Punk Revival | Hardcore & Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Garage Punk | Hardcore & Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Punk Revival | Hardcore & Punk | Alternative Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Electric Frankenstein Conquers the World! How To Make A Monster Spare Parts The Time Is Now The Buzz of a 1000 Volts ASIN: B000003JN2 Release Date: 1997-04-08

Tracks:

1. Action High
2. I'll Be Standing (On My Own)
3. Not With U
4. Pure & Simple
5. Born Wild
6. I Wish I Could
7. Learn To Burn
8. Back At You
9. Clock-Wise
10. Out There (F-Word)

Customer Reviews:

The return of REAL punk rock.......2002-07-14

Have you got a friend who insists that there are no good punk groups anymore?Slip them a copy of SICK SONGS,the perfect antidote to overproduced pop punk.this is my favorite from E>F> although any of their records satisfy.Phenomenal snotty vocals,loud 3 chord guitars and cool songs.Imagine if Black Flag never moved beyond Nervous Breakdown.Like the Flag,EF have an amazing sucession of singers.You can'tgo wrong with these guys;I have 5 EF discs,all great.Help the Youth of today,give this to a kid who thinks the Blinks and New Found Glorys are cool.They just don't know any better.P>S> this disc features current Hollywood Hate singer Scott.Check em out!

Your sick if you dont buy SICK SONGS.......2000-12-14

Electric Frankenstein just cant fail. This album is full of rock and roll energy that you just cant live without. Weather you are a fan of punk or rock music, this is the best of both worlds at its finest. Songs on this album such as "Not with you", and "Action high" will become a few of your favorites, as they have become a few of mine. If you like the Stooges, The Dead boys, Slaughter and the Dogs, and bands alike, you must own this album. Not only do all their albums completly rock, to see them live is pure devils bliss! LONG LIVE ROCK AND ROLL MUSIC!

Average customer rating: A "Must" for Ives fans Ives, the Recycler Ives at his best Good programing, great performances

Ives: When The Moon, Songs Set for Orchestra Manufacturer: Decca ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Ives, Charles | ( I ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Ives, Charles | Composers | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Vocal & Song | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General Contemporary | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Modern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music The Decca Records Store | Specialty Stores | Music Similar Items: Charles Ives: Songs ASIN: B00004SDRG Release Date: 2001-05-08

Tracks:

1. Set No. 1 (10): I. Scherzo: The See'r
2. Set No. 1 (10): II. A Lecture
3. Set No. 1 (10): III. The Ruined River
4. Set No. 1 (10): IV. Like A Sick Eagle
5. Set No. 1 (10): V. Calcium Night Light
6. Set No. 1 (10): VI. Allegretto sombreoso ('When The Moon')
7. Set No. 2 (11): I. Largo: The Indians
8. Set No. 2 (11): II. 'Gyp The Blood' Or Hearst!? Which Is Worst?!
9. Set No. 2 (11): III. Andante: The Last Reader
10. Set No. 3 (12): I. Adagio sostenuto: At Sea
11. Set No. 3 (12): II. Luck And Work
12. Set No. 3 (12): III. Premonitions
13. Set For Theatre Orchestra (20): I. In The Cage
14. Set For Theatre Orchestra (20): II. In The Inn (Pot-pourri)
15. Set For Theatre Orchestra (20): III. In The Night
16. Set No. 5: The Other Side Of Pioneering, Or Side Lights On American Enterprise (14): I. The New River - London Voices
17. Set No. 5: The Other Side Of Pioneering, Or Side Lights On American Enterprise (14): III. Charlie Rutlage
18. Set No. 5: The Other Side Of Pioneering, Or Side Lights On American Enterprise (14): IV. Ann Street
19. Set No. 6: From The Side Hill (15): I. Mists
20. Set No. 6: From The Side Hill (15): II. The Rainbow
21. Set No. 6: From The Side Hill (15): IV. Evening
22. The Pond (40)
23. Set No. 7: Water Colors (16): The Pond - Remembrance
24. Set No. 1: I. The See'r (343) - Susan Narucki
25. Set No. 1: II. Tolerance (377) - Alan Feinberg
26. Set No. 1: III. The New River (308) - Susan Narucki
27. Set No. 1: IV. Like A Sick Eagle (288) - Susan Narucki
28. Set No. 1: VI. The 'Incantation' - Susan Narucki
29. Set No. 2: The Indians (283) - Susan Narucki
30. Set No. 2: Ann Street (211) - Alan Feinberg
31. Set No. 2: III. The Last Reader (286) - Susan Narucki
32. Set No. 3: I. At Sea (213) - Alan Feinberg
33. Set No. 3: II. Luck And Work (293) - Alan Feinberg
34. Set No. 3: III. Premonitions (328) - Alan Feinberg
35. Set No. 5: III. Charlie Rutlage - Alan Feinberg
36. Set No. 6: I. Mists (II) (301) - Susan Narucki
37. Set No. 6: II. The Rainbow (So May It Be!) (330) - Alan Feinberg
38. Set No. 6: IV. Evening (244) - Alan Feinberg
39. Set No. 7: III. Remembrance (322) - Alan Feinberg

Customer Reviews:

A "Must" for Ives fans.......2002-07-21

I could go on and on about Ives, but it would be rather pointless in this case. The bare-bones facts of the matter is that this is an excellent disc and is a must for those whose Ives collection needs fleshed out with some of the smaller and more elusive works.

Ives, the Recycler.......2001-11-06

It is a well-known fact that many composers have gotten into the habit of rewriting and/or recycling older compositions as something new. For example, Handel recycled a lot of his organ concertos as concertos for harp and/or harpsichord, as well as a number of recorder sonatas. Ives was very keen on recycling his own works in different formats. One only has to peruse certain of the Ives songs, for instance, to realize that some of that material showed up in his symphonies. His fourth symphony alone sports two movements which were recycled: one from the first string quartet, and one from a song.
It is refreshing to see, at last, a collection which demonstrates so thoroughly Ives's process of recycling not only his own tunes but other people's as well. In particular I was pleased to see that this recording includes "Calcium Light Night" which uses George F. Root's "Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!" Also we have what is perhaps the first recording on CD of The Pond, which Ives wrote as a tribute to his father who used to play "Kathleen Mavourneen" on the trumpet at a pond near their home in Danbury, Connecticut. I was surprised to learn that Ives had rewritten The Pond not just once but twice.
I find myself in agreement, by the way, with the other reviewer concerning the omission of the song "The Cage" which is a lovely and very brief song. However, this particular song is available on other recordings of Ives's work, such as the recording of Ives songs by Jan deGaetani and Gilbert Kalish, so I didn't miss it that much.

Ives at his best.......2001-06-14

I finished listening to this CD a little while ago and I'm still glowing. It's a creative bit of programming in a well-performed, well-engineered reaslization. First come Ives's pieces for chamber orchestra, grouped as he intended into his idiosyncratic "sets." Then come the same pieces again, in the same order, in their versions for voice and piano. Some of the orchestral music. such as "Evening" was unknown to me. Others, like "Charlie Rutledge," I knew only as songs. (The orchestral arrangement of "Rutledge" is an eye-opener--it's like Copland by way of Varese.) Loveliest of all is the voice of the soprano Susan Narucki. Her interpretation of the Se'er (Set No. 1) seemed rather strident on first hearing, but in the softer, slower songs she gave me chills, esp. "Like a Sick Eagle" and "The Indians." The CD also includes a fine rendition of the Set for Theater Orchestra. Conductor Richard Bernas and his ensemble do well by the broken, sad-yet-happy ragtime of "In the Inn." The only omission in the collection is a vocal performance of "In the Cage"--the first of the three pieces. The other two don't have vocals counterparts, but "In the Cage" does, and one wonders why Bernas and company decided not to include it.

I have always believed that some of Ives's best music can be found in his pieces for chamber orchestra, in which, surprisingly, he uses his signature quotation technique only sparingly. Most of the tunes are original. The music is undiluted Ives, and it is wonderful.

Good programing, great performances.......2001-05-11

Yes, Ives was nuts. He composed brilliant songs, then orchestrated the music, leaving out the words, calling the result "Sets for Theater Orchestra". Or vice versa. This is the first CD that includes alterantive Ives versions side by side, giving you both the songs and the orchestra music. The comparisons are fascinating and the performances are terrific. Sandford Sylvan is a great American singer and the orchestra is right on top of things.

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1. Singles [Import]
2. Skunk & Hugo Presents Movie [Import]
3. Slippery When Wet [Import]
4. Slowhand [Import]
5. Smash...! Boom...! Bang...! Beat In Germany
6. Smash...! Boom...! Bang...! Beat In Germany: Halbstark [Limited Edition]
7. Songs In The Key Of Salvation
8. Stray Cats - Live [Live]
9. Superhits [Import]
10. Surrender

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