Customer Reviews

Ives: The Symphonies / Orchestral Sets 1 & 2

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ives' four symphonies beautifully summarize his growth as composer. Unlike Brahms' four, they are not all fully mature works. Each one freezes a moment in his development. The first is student work, much in the manner of Dvorak and Tchaikovsky (with paraphrases of each), and the most vibrant American symphony written to that time. The Second does what many musical nationalists of Ives' day thought an American symphony should do -- apply native themes to European models, but as much fun as the result is, it was a dead end for the composer, and he never attempted anything like it again. Mehta and the LA Philharmonic give energetic and fully romantic readings of each, which came as a pleasant surprise to a long-time Ives fan who thought he'd heard all these works have to offer.

The Third comes closer to the mark. It consists of American themes woven together with ingenious counterpoint into wholly original forms. It is a jewel, and just the kind of pretty, low-key piece that brings out the best in Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields.

The Fourth is the masterpiece, the work Ives struggled toward all his life. Dohnanyi and the Cleveland Orchestra do a creditable job that stands up well to the competition from Stokowski and Tilson Thomas. I especially liked the engineering in the second and fourth movements, which captures some details others don't. (I'd never heard the wind machine before.)

As a bonus, you also get Ives' great orchestral sets, both in fine performances with Dohnanyi. The No. 1, better known as Three Places in New England, is the more famous, but the Second is sublime.

This reasonably priced set is a great, convenient way to acquire some of Ives' best music all at once.

For quite some time, I had been looking for just such a compilation of all the Ives symphonies. When I saw this newly released compilation from Decca, I bought it without a moment's hesitation. And I am very glad I did: This set has very quickly become one of my favorite recordings. Not only the four symphonies, but also the two great orchestral sets 1 and 2 are included as well. Unquestionably, it is these two orchestral sets that make this compilation such an outstanding bargain and, really, an absolute MUST HAVE for anyone even remotely interested in modern classical music.

Each of the symphonies is very well performed, though none of these are what I would call the Definitive Recordings. However, the Mehta performance of the First is exceedingly good, and I don't really see how it could possibly be improved on. . . Dohnanyi's performance of the Fourth is a little restrained for my tastes, but it is nonetheless an interesting interpretation. Dohnanyi more than proves himself a able interpreter of Ives in his performances of the two orchestral sets, which are, without a doubt, the highlights of this album. J. P. Burkholder's liner notes add some very interesting insights into each of the works.

Based on the overall quality of these individual performances, I would give them four stars. However, considering that each of these two CD's contains almost 80 minutes of Ives, and considering the inclusion of these wonderful orchestral sets, this compilation is very worthy to be rated at five stars.

This 2-CD set is really good, and contains his complete numbered symphonies (except, Holidays Symphony [No. 5]) and Orchestral Sets...

First Symphony (D minor!) is a study work, written in school years, so he didn't abandon the principles of harmony(!)

Second Symphony (F Major, except the last chord of music!) contains themes of some famous composers (Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Dvorak) and last chord is hysterical of course...

Third Symphony is a winner of Pulitzer, and written for a chamber orchestra

And Fourth Symphony is one of the best compositions by Ives.
Especially 2nd movement is terrific...He used some popular tunes and marches of USA (as usual!) and divide 2 part to the all orchestra. Even so, this movement requires two conductors for orchestra only (!). Orchestration is amazing (ex. quarter-tone piano, more two normal pianos, bells, gongs, large woodwinds, 6 horns, 6 trumpets, 4 trombones, 2 tubas etc...) and choir requires...

All performers are very good. Especially Dohnanyi and his Cleveland Orchestra (in 4th Sym.), Zubin Mehta and his Los Angeles PO (in 2nd Symphony) are excellent...

In other words, this set is a must have for all Ives fans.
Highly recommended...

I agree with Daniel. I, too, had been looking for a compilation of all of Ives' Symphonies, to no avail. Thankfully, Decca has released this gorgeous compilation of Ives' four symphonies, as well as including two orchestral sets.

Ives was a genius at creating uniquely beautiful harmony. And this impeccable set of recordings is a must for any Ives admirer.

I'm really interested in Ives, and had been picking up recordings of symphonies one by one, and was really impressed with this set. Its programming is a bit courageous too in that it sidesteps the myth of Ives the autodidactic maverick by including the first symphony, rather than the Holidays symphony (for which I'd recommend Baltimore's impressive but somehow out-of-print [stupid Decca!] reading, although it duplicates the Three Places: http://www.amazon.com/Ives-Three-Places-England-Holidays/dp/B00020QWAA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1248568445&sr=8-2).

The LA reading of the first symphony doesn't make any apologies for the work's conventionality within its genre, but treats it as, I don't know, it would treat any other symphony written in the 1890s. The Cleveland readings in particular are full-blooded and, to use an Ivesian term, quite "manly." The third symphony as well is played quite wistfully.

My only complaint is that there is no third disc, which could include Holidays, Central Park in the Dark, maybe the Pond, The Unanswered Question or a lesser known overture to make for one-stop shopping. But there are plenty of Michael Tilson Thomas or Bernstein collections to round those out (and pick up additional recordings of the symphonies), so I'll call this a bargain and a great starting place and be thankful for it!

This 2CD set contains recordings by the Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. All three of these orchestras are well known and have great reputations.

While I am generally not a fan of Charles Ives music, the fact this 2cd set gets such good reviews and contains performances by the Cleveland Orchestra prompted me to give it a try. Though my opinion of Ives as a 2nd tier composer did not change after listening to this disc, I will admit that the compositions were all well played and conducted, with the "3 Places in New England" being my favorite. Dohnanyi and the Cleveland Orchestra delivered a top notch performance, one that would compare favorably to the Eugene Ormandy version on Sony.

If you are like me and want just a brief overview or sampling or Charles Ives, then this 2CD set would be a great starting point. Even if you never buy another Ives disc again, one might as well sample his work and see what all the fuss is about.