New England Chronicles

Moving on to a generously filled double cd featuring the four symphonies of Charles Ives plus Orchestral Set No 1 ( Three Places In New England ) and Orchestral Set No 2. The performers are variously The Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra under Zubin Mehta, Christoph von Dohnanyi with the Cleveland Orchestra and Chorus and the Academy of St Martin's in the Fields conducted by Neville Marriner. Best sampled in chunks I feel, rather than ploughing through over two and a half hours of music in one sitting. I had just heard a performance of the fourth symphonby at the BBC Proms which wasn't the best balanced and it was good to go back to the clarity of the performance recorded here. The fourth symphony is the climax of ideas also expressed particularly in the second symphony and the Orchestral sets, with the use of popular brass band and church themes, clashing themes played by different sections of the orchestra etc. Ives never relied on his music and thoughout his life remained a successful business man in the insurance business. This may have helped preserve his individuality outside of the growing American music establishment. Since his death in the fifties, this outsider position has been cemented into being recognised, in fact, as the greatest exponent of American classical music in the 20th century.