Charles Ives - The Unknown Ives - 2 cd (1999-2004) reload

Premiere recordings of unpublished works and new critical editions.
Donald Berman is a superlative pianist, but as any number of attempts by excellent players have shown, it takes more than technique to bring Ives alive. To my ears Berman's Ives most resembles the playing of Ives himself, as we hear it in the composer's private recordings. With Berman there is the same subtlety of voicing you hear in Ives's playing, the same power combined with delicacy—a surprising thing to say about Ives, but that's how he often played his own music. Berman studied with John Kirkpatrick, the composer's first great interpreter, and kept growing from those studies. Ives was a prophetic genius whose consciousness, and piano writing, stayed rooted in Romanticism. For a pianist that's a very difficult balancing act, but Berman handles it beautifully. A new generation of performers are reaching a mature and seasoned approach to Ives, and Donald Berman is a vital part of that achievement.

Jan Swafford, author of "Charles Ives: A Life with Music" (1996, W.W. Norton)

The Unknown Ives - Vol. 1 - (22 tracks)  65:39
Three-Page Sonata [1905] S. 089i, K. 3B15 (3 tracks, 07:58)
01 I Allegro moderato 02:04
02 II Andante 03:16
03 III Allegro 02:38
Studies #6-9 [1907-09] S. 094, K. 3B17 (4 tracks, 12:30)
04 Study #6: Andante 04:22
05 Study #7: Andante cantabile 02:58
06 Study #8: Trio (Allegro moderato; Presto) 01:51
07 Study #9: The Anti-Abolitionist Riots in the 1830s & 1840s 03:19
Studies #15-16/19-23 [1907-09; 1920s] S. 100, K. 3B17 (3 tracks, 10:27)
08 Study #15: Allegro moderato 04:05
09 Study #16/19 02:15
10 Study #23: Allegro 04:07
Set of Five Take-Offs [1906] S. 085, K. 2B11 (5 tracks, 12:27)
11 I The Seen & Unseen, or Sweet & Tough 02:55
12 II Rough & Ready, or The Jumping Frog 03:06
13 III Song Without (good) Words 03:17
14 IV Scene Episode 02:12
15 V Bad Resolutions & Good One 00:57
Studies #20-22-21 [1925s] S. 104, K. 3B17 (3 tracks, 12:16)
16 Study #20 07:31
17 Study #22: Andante maestoso - Allegro vivace 01:57
18 Study #21: Some South-Paw Pitching 02:48
Carl Ruggles: Evocations, Four Chants [1937-54] (4 tracks, 10:01)
19 I Largo, to Harriette Miller 02:01
20 II Moderato appassionato, to Charlotte Ruggles 02:51
21 III Andante con fantasia, to John Kirkpatrick 01:37
22 IV Adagio sostenuto, to Charles Ives  03:32





The Unknown Ives - Vol. 2 - (23 tracks)  73:33
01 Varied Air and Variations [1922] S. 124, K. 3B20 05:27
02 Waltz-Rondo [1911] S. 125, K. 3B18 05:47
03 Invention in D [1897] S. 118, K. 3B14 01:31
04 Study #1: Allegro [1907] S. 090, K. 3B17 01:01
05 Study #2: Andante moderato - Allegro molto [1907] S. 091, K. 3B17 02:10
06 Storm and Distress [1910] S. 082a, piano cadenza from Scherzo: Over the Pavements 01:41
07 Study #11: Andante [1908] S. 099, K. 3B17 01:46
08 Impression of the "St. Gaudens" in Boston Common [1915] S. x683iii 07:10
09 The Celestial Railroad, "take off" [1925] S. 116, K. 3B19 08:07
10 Minuetto, op. 4 [1886] S. 119, K. 3B1 02:28
11 Study #4: Allegro moderato [1908] S. 092, K. 3B17 00:35
12 Study #5: Moderato con anima [1913] S. 093, K. 3B17 06:19
Tree Quarter-tone Pieces for Two Pianos [1923-25 ] S. 128i, K. 3C3
13 Largo, very slowly 03:52
14 II Allegro 03:23
15 III Chorale 04:38
16 Fourth Fugue [1891] 00:58
17 March #1 for Piano, with "Year of the Jubilee" [1895] S. 109, K. 3B4 02:35
18 March #2 for Piano, with "Son of a Gambolier" [1895] S. 110, K. 3B5 02:35
19 March #3 for Piano, with "Omega Lambda Chi" [1895-96] S. 111, K. 3B6 02:36
20 March in G and C for Piano, with "See The Conquering Hero Comes" [1897] S. 114, K. 3B11 02:12
21 March for Piano: "The Circus Band" [1899] S. 115, K. 3B12 01:54
22 March #5 for Piano, with "Annie Lisle" [1892] S. 112, K. 3B10 02:14
23 March #6 for Piano, with "Here's to Good Old Yale" [1892-97] S. 113, K. 3B13 02:34