A Concord Symphony: Piano Sonata No. 2, Concord, Mass.

Henry Brant | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Performers: Charles Ives, Dennis Russell Davies, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
• Composers: Charles Ives
• Conductors: Dennis Russell Davies
• Original Release Date: November 30, 2006
• Label: Innova Recordings
• Copyright: 2007 Innova Recordings
• Genres: Classical/Historical Periods/Modern, 20th, & 21st Century
• ASIN: B000X2YYDO
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No mere orchestration, but a wonderful, loving creation in its own right, November 29, 2007

By 

M. Cleveland "abqcleve" (Albuquerque, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Concord Symphony: Piano Sonata No. 2, Concord, Mass. (MP3 Download)

Henry Brant's 30-year labor of love creating this orchestral treatment of Charles Ives' masterwork for piano is a terrific synthesis of the distinctive voices of two great American composers. The orchestration is pure Brant with lots of emphasis on brass and winds. Far clearer in its lines and intent than Ive's own orchestral palette. Some may prefer the denser, murkier textures Ives created in the piano sonata and there are times when the orchestration creates a very different atmosphere than parallel passages in the original; however, this is not a "correction" of Ives. The Concord Symphony is, for me, a loving creation in its own right that stands on its own while remaining faithful to the original. Fantastic variety that matches Ives' creative scope. The "Housatonic" section in its Brant-provided livery is pure, Hollywood Americana in the best sense. The playing by the Davies-led Amsterdam band is virtuoso, concerto for orchestra stuff. Thrilling and sensitive. Highly recommended, maybe particularly for those who've never quite warmed to the piano sonata.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars i can only say wow !, September 2, 2008

By 

Richard W. Martin "- r" (raleigh, nc USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Charles Ives: A Concord Symphony (Audio CD)

i had never heard of this before it popped up on my amazon recommendations. having been an ives fan for 35 some odd years now, and having a pretty good knowledge of the concord (yes, i/m one of those who opened the score and fell out of my chair laughing, as if i could ever play this !), i had to have it.

i guess i/m not one who values purity above all else. there is a long tradition of arranging others music - i have no problem there. as a previous poster pointed out, it brings out lines that the piano version tends to meld. but the important thing to me is does it sound like ives ? to me, yes, somewhere between the 2nd and 4th symphonies. this was on first listen (10 minutes ago !). now it/s time to dig up the old piano score and follow along. best cd i/ve bought in over a year.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Brilliant Orchestration of Ives's Piano Masterpiece, January 22, 2008

By 

J Scott Morrison (Middlebury VT, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Charles Ives: A Concord Symphony (Audio CD)

There are, I'm sure, purists who will balk at the very notion of an orchestration of Charles Ives's piano masterwork, the Concord Sonata. But they really ought to give this version, a 30-year-long true labor of love by Henry Brant, a hearing in its brilliant orchestral garb. I am very familiar with the Concord Sonata, having worked on it myself at the keyboard, and yet I hear things in the orchestral version that I hadn't heard before. Partly it's a matter of instrumental timbre allowing aural delineation not possible even in the best piano performances, and partly it is because Brant has chosen to emphasize things that are (at least by me) barely noticed. And hearing a familiar work in new ways is one way to keep that work alive; think, for instance, how we began to hear baroque works differently when the historically-informed-performance crowd started performing and recording things as familiar at the Bach's B Minor Mass or Handel's Messiah.

As for the performance I can only say that Henry Brant, conductor Dennis Russell Davies and the Royal Concertgebouw have done themselves exceedingly proud. This is a masterful performance of this gargantuan and knotty work.

For those who love this work, I urge you to try it. For those who have heard the piano sonata and didn't think they liked it, I urge YOU to try it. In Kyle Gann's words about Brant's orchestration, "He's given the world a brand-new Charles Ives symphony."

Scott Morrison