Ives: Piano Sonata No. 2 “Concord, Mass., 1840–1860” • The St. Gaudens (“Black March”) Donald Berman

• Charles Ives (1874 - 1954): The St Gaudens ("Black March"):
• 1 Ives: The St Gaudens ("Black March") (48 kHz) 06:17
• Piano Sonata No. 2, "Concord, Mass., 1840–1860":
• 2 Ives: Piano Sonata No. 2, "Concord, Mass., 1840–1860": I. Emerson 17:44
• 3 Ives: Piano Sonata No. 2, "Concord, Mass., 1840–1860": II. Hawthorne 11:52
• 4 Ives: Piano Sonata No. 2, "Concord, Mass., 1840–1860": III. The Alcotts 05:37
• 5 Ives: Piano Sonata No. 2, "Concord, Mass., 1840–1860": IV. Thoreau 10:54
• Total Runtime 52:24

Info for Ives: Piano Sonata No. 2 “Concord, Mass., 1840–1860” • The St. Gaudens (“Black March”)

Anlässlich des sechzigsten Geburtstages von Charles Ives veröffentlicht der in Neuengland lebende Pianist und Ives-Forscher Donald Berman eine Einspielung der "Concord Sonata" des Komponisten unter Verwendung seiner eigenen, neu erstellten Ausgabe, die neue Einblicke in das ikonische Werk gewährt. Bermans Eintauchen in die Klangwelt von Ives begann unter der Anleitung des Pianisten John Kirkpatrick, der die "Concord Sonata" 1939 in New York uraufführte. Im Laufe vieler Jahre des Studiums und der Reflexion entdeckte Berman zahlreiche Notizen und Änderungen, die Ives auf den Manuskriptseiten der Concord-Sonate vorgenommen hatte, jede einzelne "ein Schritt zur Verwirklichung seiner Vision einer dreidimensionalen Hörerfahrung". Berman kam zu dem Schluss, dass der erste Satz des Concord, so wie Ives ihn sich vorstellte, ganz anders ist als die heute allgemein akzeptierte Version; seine neue Ausgabe enthält Material im Wert von zwei Seiten, das hier zum ersten Mal meisterhaft aufgenommen wurde.

Das Album beginnt mit dem elegischen "The St. Gaudens (Black March)", das sich auf die gleichnamige Skulptur im Boston Common bezieht, die das 54. Regiment der Massachusetts Union Army darstellt, das erste Regiment afroamerikanischer Soldaten, und das in seiner Orchesterfassung als erster Satz von Ives' Three Places in New England weithin bekannt ist.

Donald Berman, Klavier

Aufgenommen: 3. und 4. Januar 2022, Abeshouse Productions, Pelham, New York
Bearbeitet, gemischt und gemastert von Adam Abeshouse
Produzent und Toningenieur: Adam Abeshouse

Donald Berman
A multidimensional pianist, pedagogue, and scholar, Donald Berman has won tremendous acclaim for his "stupendous abilities, both athletic and intellectual" (Boston Sunday Globe) and performances hailed as "stunning, adventurous, and substantive" (New York Times).

With an emphasis on presenting American music of the 20th and 21st centuries, Berman has brought recital programs both technically challenging and exceptionally innovative and insightful to some of the most important stages for new music — from Carnegie's Weill and Zankel Halls to National Sawdust and Le Poisson Rouge in the U.S., as well as major venues across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. An enthusiastic commissioner of new music, he has added more than 200 works to the contemporary canon — many of which he performs alongside classical repertoire to provoke new and fascinating revelations and connections across periods and styles.

Berman's body of work as a recording artist demonstrates the breadth and depth of his engagement with the music of our time. His albums have included numerous world-premiere recordings, as well as illuminating performances of previously unknown works of 20th-century American composers, including Charles Ives (The Unknown Ives, Vols. I & II), Carl Ruggles (The Uncovered Ruggles), and Elliott Carter and Roger Sessions (Americans in Rome). As concerto soloist and chamber musician, Berman's discography includes collaborations with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project (George Perle: Serenades), soprano Susan Narucki (This Island, The Light That Is Felt: Songs of Charles Ives, and the Grammy-nominated The Edge of Silence), and the Borromeo Quartet (The Worlds Revolve). Upcoming albums include a survey of Elena Ruehr songs with baritone Stephen Salters and a new recording of Ives's Concord Sonata, to be released during the composer's sesquicentennial celebrations in 2024 by Avie Records. Mr. Berman's other recordings can be found on Naxos, ARSIS Audio, Bridge, New World, CRI, Koch, Centaur, Newport Classics, Accurate,Capstone Records and BMOP Sound.

A fellow of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies, Berman currently serves as Chair of Keyboard Studies at Longy School of Music of Bard College and leads Tufts University's New Music Ensemble. He is also the General Editor of three volumes of Ives's Shorter Works for Piano — a titanic project representing 30 years of scholarship and editing — and President and Treasurer of the Charles Ives Society, where he is leading an extensive expansion of the Society's digital archives on charlesives.org.

Berman's trajectory as a musician and scholar was set in motion by four important teachers: Mildred Victor, George Barth, John Kirkpatrick (who premiered Ives's Concord Sonata in 1939), and legendary pedagogue Leonard Shure.

Booklet for Ives: Piano Sonata No. 2 “Concord, Mass., 1840–1860” • The St. Gaudens (“Black March”)