The Unknown Ives, Volume 2
Liner Notes   Cat. No. 80618     Release Date: 2004-01-01

Premiere recordings of unpublished works and new critical editions

Donald Berman, piano; (with Stephen Drury, piano 2)

The works on The Unknown Ives, Volume 2 include some of his best and most searching experiments: fragments, personal explorations, cerebral excursions, and works of unabashed amusement. What emerges from their juxtaposition is a sense of canon. The spectrum of pieces, from adolescence to maturity, simple to complex, illustrates the boundaries of the complete oeuvre. From fragment to complete work, gestures meld, and motivic detours begin to describe a broad musical profile of Ives the complete musician.

This recording completes the catalogue of Ives's short, though substantial, piano compositions presented on The Unknown Ives. Honing the unpublished manuscripts has brought to light some 40 piano works, two hours of music, apart from the two major piano sonatas of Ives. Hearing them illumines a more complete picture of Ives the composer. Meeting that music on its own terms is a fitting tribute to the composer who desired to make music that had a life of its own roaring volition.

This recording includes published pieces that I have re-evaluated and revised. Many were initially edited by my teacher John Kirkpatrick (1905-1991), the American pianist, editor, and ardent champion of Ives. His meticulous efforts to identify, index, and catalogue loose manuscript sheets after Ives's death unquestionably comprise one of the heroic achievements in twentieth-century American music. Kirkpatrick's fastidious quest to divine playable editions of the music is a fascinating and at times problematic counterpoint to the compositions' rough edges. But essentially, Ives's volcanic nature and ambivalent attitudes likely served to obstruct public hearings of the music during his life; Kirkpatrick's asserting influence brought much of that music to light, including this recording.                               -Donald Berman 

Donald Berman

The Unknown Ives, Volume 2

MP3/320 $9.99
FLAC $9.99
WAV $9.99
CD $15.99

Track Listing

Varied Air and Variations
Charles Ives
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Waltz-Rondo
Charles Ives
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Invention in D
Charles Ives
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Study No. 1: Allegro
Charles Ives
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Study No. 2
Charles Ives
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Storm and Distress: piano cadenza from Scherzo - Over the Pavements
Charles Ives
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Study No. 11: Andante
Charles Ives
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Impression of the "St. Gaudens" in Boston Common
Charles Ives
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The Celestial Railroad
Charles Ives
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Minuetto: op. 4
Charles Ives
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Study No. 4: Allegro moderato
Charles Ives
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Study No. 5: Moderato con anima
Charles Ives
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Three Quarter-Tone Pieces for Two Pianos: I. Largo
Charles Ives
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Three Quarter-Tone Pieces for Two Pianos: II. Allegro
Charles Ives
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Three Quarter-Tone Pieces for Two Pianos: III. Chorale
Charles Ives
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Fourth Fugue (George Edward Ives)
George Edward Ives
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March No. 1 for Piano, with Year Of The Jubilee
Charles Ives
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March No. 2 for Piano, with Son of a Gambolier
Charles Ives
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March No. 3 for Piano, with Omega Lambda Chi
Charles Ives
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March in G and C for Piano, with See The Conquering Hero Comes
Charles Ives
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March for Piano: The Circus Band
Charles Ives
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March No. 5 for Piano, with Annie Lisle
Charles Ives
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March No. 6 for Piano, with Here's to Good Old Yale
Charles Ives
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