Album

Charles Ives: Piano, Chamber & Vocal Works is Naxos American Classics' reissue of a stimulating and magnificently well-played album originally appearing on the Musical Heritage Society label, recorded in 1986 and 1987. Joel Sachs and Cheryl Seltzer are pianists who play as a duo, and separately, within the Continuum ensemble. In the selection of six Ives songs presented here they make an intelligent choice: that four hands (or at least three) are better than two when it comes to some of Ives' blackest piano music, whether scored on two staves or not. The Housatonic at Stockbridge is one of Ives' loveliest songs, and it is nice to hear it performed without the singer having to hang onto a note or phrase to allow the accompanist to finish rolling out a big chord that has more notes than most pianists have fingers.

Two of Ives' rarest and most difficult songs are performed here; On the Antipodes, recorded, not well, as a choral piece back in the '60s by the Gregg Smith Singers and Aeschylus and Sophocles, and seemingly not recorded before or since. A remarkable strength possessed by Continuum is its modularity. If Ives suggests in some stray patch that a string quartet playing a single chord can be added to the last two bars of a song written for voice and piano, Continuum will say "let's do it" rather than "this is too much trouble just for one chord." The chamber pieces are a real delight—you'll not find better recordings of In Re Con Moto et al or Hallowe'en than this one. In Hallowe'en, Continuum takes special care to observe Ives' dynamic indications, and it makes all the difference in the world. The chamber version of The Gong on the Hook and Ladder, originally published in 1936 under the erroneous title of "Calcium Light," is like Aeschylus and Sophocles unique to this collection.

The recital concludes with fine performances of Ives' Five Take-Offs and Three-Quarter Tone Pieces. If you love the music of Charles Ives, it is an imperative to obtain Continuum's Charles Ives: Piano, Chamber & Vocal Works.

© Uncle Dave Lewis, All Music Guide

CD 1
Charles Edward Ives Composer The Housatonic at Stockbridge, S.266 Work Victoria Villamil Soprano, Joel Sachs Piano, Cheryl Seltzer Piano, Continuum Ensemble
1	The Housatonic at Stockbridge, S.266	3:24			$0.99
Charles Edward Ives Composer Soliloquy (song), S.352 Work Victoria Villamil Soprano, Joel Sachs Piano, Cheryl Seltzer Piano, Continuum Ensemble
2	Soliloquy (song), S.352	0:49			$0.99
Charles Edward Ives Composer On the Antipodes, for voice and 2 pianos, S.319 Work Victoria Villamil Soprano, Joel Sachs Piano, Cheryl Seltzer Piano, Continuum Ensemble
3	On the Antipodes, for voice and 2 pianos, S.319	2:37			$0.99
Charles Edward Ives Composer The Gong on the Hook and Ladder or Firemen's Parade on Main Street, for strings, piano and optional bell, S.70 Work Mia Wu Violin, Joel Sachs Piano, Eva Gruesser Violin, Beverly Lauridsen Cello, Rachel Evans Viola
4	The Gong on the Hook and Ladder or Firemen's Parade on Main Street, for strings, piano and optional bell, S.70	1:28			$0.99
Charles Edward Ives Composer Hallowe'en, for string quartet, piano and optional drum, S.71 Work Mia Wu Violin, Joel Sachs Drum (Bass), Cheryl Seltzer Piano, Eva Gruesser Violin, Beverly Lauridsen Cello, Rachel Evans Viola
5	Hallowe'en, for string quartet, piano and optional drum, S.71	2:33			$0.99
Charles Edward Ives Composer In Re Con Moto et al., for string quartet, piano and optional drum, S.72 Work Mia Wu Violin, Cheryl Seltzer Piano, Eva Gruesser Violin, Beverly Lauridsen Cello, Rachel Evans Viola
6	In Re Con Moto et al., for string quartet, piano and optional drum, S.72	3:02			$0.99
Charles Edward Ives Composer Sunrise, for voice, piano and violin, S.365 Work Sheila Schonbrun Soprano, Mia Wu Violin, Cheryl Seltzer Piano
7	Sunrise, for voice, piano and violin, S.365	5:35			$0.99
Charles Edward Ives Composer Remembrance, S.332 Work Sheila Schonbrun Soprano, Cheryl Seltzer Piano, Eva Gruesser Violin
8	Remembrance, S.332	1:01			$0.99
Charles Edward Ives Composer Aeschylus and Sophocles, S.206 Work Sheila Schonbrun Soprano, Mia Wu Violin, Victoria Villamil Soprano, Cheryl Seltzer Piano, Eva Gruesser Violin, Beverly Lauridsen Cello, Rachel Evans Viola
9	Aeschylus and Sophocles, S.206	4:10			$0.99
Charles Edward Ives Composer Set of Five Take-Offs, for piano, S.122 Work 12:55 Joel Sachs Piano
10	1.The Seen and Unseen? (Sweet and Tough)	3:04			$0.99
11	2.Rough and Ready et al. and/or The Jumping Frog	2:21			$0.99
12	3.Song Without (Good) Words	4:02			$0.99
13	4.Scene Episode	2:16			$0.99
14	5.Bad Resolutions and Good WAN! (Jan. 1, 1907)	1:12			$0.99
Charles Edward Ives Composer 3 Quarter-Tone Pieces, for 2 pianos, S.128 Work 11:21 Joel Sachs Piano, Cheryl Seltzer Piano
15	1.Largo	4:05			$0.99
16	2.Allegro	2:38			$0.99
17	3.Chorale	4:38			$0.99