Ives: Complete Sets for Chamber Orchestra

by James Sinclair, Orchestra New England

Overview

World premiere recordings of music by Charles Ives in 2023 are certain to draw considerable attention from those who have an affinity for music from the early-20th century composers. Beyond those looking to complete a collection of Ives' recorded works, this collection of mostly miniatures will likely pique the interest of instrumental ensembles seeking to expand their repertoire. There is a lot of humor in this music, for instance in "Calcium Light Night" from Set No. 1. The wind instruments represent different fraternities parading Yale's campus, singing their society songs as they pass each other in an attempt to drown the other out. A major benefit to this collection is the diversity of Ives' compositional range. There are sensitive, emotional tunes contrasted directly by marching and aggressive rhythms, and Naxos provides texts that the composer used as a basis for these purely instrumental works. The concluding Set for Theatre Orchestra was inspired by the makeshift and often extraordinarily flexible musicians that make up local or community theater orchestras. While this is the only set for "Theatre Orchestra," all of these works fall within the same proportions and variety in instrumentation. Ives wrote many of these with the idea of other instruments being substituted or added, often noting which instrument would be a good substitute. The first three sets and the Set for Theatre Orchestra were fully assembled and published, and credit to John Sinclair, Kenneth Singleton, and David Porter for the realizations provided here of the remaining sets, which were planned for assembly but never made it beyond that stage. This recording is likely to find an audience of more than just collectors, and one can imagine many college faculty recitals making use of the eccentric scoring to collaborate across departments. ~ Keith Finke

Product Details

Release Date:	06/09/2023
Label:	Naxos
UPC:	0636943991725
Rank:	81771

Tracks

1. Set No. 1~I. Scherzo: The See'r
2. Set No. 1~II. A Lecture (Tolerance)
3. Set No. 1~III. The Ruined River (The New River)
4. Set No. 1~IV. Like a Sick Eagle
5. Set No. 1~V. Calcium Light Night
6. Set No. 1~VI. Allegretto sombreoso (Incantation)
7. Set No. 2~I. Largo: The Indians
8. Set No. 2~II. "Gyp the Blood" or Hearst!? Which is Worst?!
9. Set No. 2~III. Andante: The Last Reader
10. Set No. 3~I. Adagio sostenuto: At Sea
11. Set No. 3~II. Luck and Work
12. Set No. 3~III. Premonitions
13. Set No. 4: Three Poets and Human Nature~I. Robert Browning (Paracelsus)
14. Set No. 4: Three Poets and Human Nature~II. Wait Whitman
15. Set No. 4: Three Poets and Human Nature~III. Matthew Arnold (West London)
16. Set No. 5: The Other Side of Pioneering, or Side Lights on American Enterprise~I. The New River
17. Set No. 5: The Other Side of Pioneering, or Side Lights on American Enterprise~II. The Indians
18. Set No. 5: The Other Side of Pioneering, or Side Lights on American Enterprise~III. Charlie Rutlage
19. Set No. 5: The Other Side of Pioneering, or Side Lights on American Enterprise~IV. Ann Street
20. Set No. 6: From the Side Hill~I. Mists
21. Set No. 6: From the Side Hill~II. The Rainbow
22. Set No. 6: From the Side Hill~III. Afterglow
23. Set No. 6: From the Side Hill~IV. Evening
24. Set No. 7: Water Colors~I. At Sea
25. Set No. 7: Water Colors~II. Swimmers
26. Set No. 7: Water Colors~III. The Pond (Remembrance)
27. Set No. 7: Water Colors~IV. Full Fathom Five (A Sea Dirge)
28. Set No. 8: Songs without Voices~I. The New River
29. Set No. 8: Songs without Voices~II. The Indians
30. Set No. 8: Songs without Voices~III. Ann Street
31. Set No. 9 of Three Pieces~I. Andante con moto: The Last Reader
32. Set No. 9 of Three Pieces~II. Scherzo: The See'r
33. Set No. 9 of Three Pieces~III. Largo to Presto: The Unanswered Question
34. Set No. 10 of Three Pieces~I. Largo molto: Like a Sick Eagle
35. Set No. 10 of Three Pieces~II. Allegro - Andante: Luck and Work
36. Set No. 10 of Three Pieces~III. Adagio: The Indians
37. Set for Theatre Orchestra~I. In the Cage
38. Set for Theatre Orchestra~II. In the Inn (Potpourri)
39. Set for Theatre Orchestra~III. In the Night

Album Credits

Performance Credits

James Sinclair   Primary Artist,Conductor
Orchestra New England   Primary Artist,Orchestra

Technical Credits

John Keats   Text
James Sinclair   Editing,Liner Notes
Robert Browning   Text
William Wordsworth   Text
William Shakespeare   Text
Louis Untermeyer   Text
Charles Sprague   Text
Lord Byron   Text
Mark Donahue   Mastering Engineer
Rudyard Kipling   Text
Robert Underwood Johnson   Text
Kenneth Singleton   Editing,Producer
Harold Shapiro   Photography
Walt Whitman   Text
Benjamin Schwartz   Editing,Engineer
Dominick O'Malley   Text
Matthew Arnold   Text
Oliver Wendell Holmes   Text
Maurice Morris   Text
Harmony Twichell Ives   Text
Thomas Westendorf   Text
John Milton   Text
James Fenimore Jr. Cooper   Text
James Bigelow Hall   Cover Image
Jonathan Galle   Engineer
Algis Kaupas   Photography
Charles Ives   Text,Composer