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What in the world would you and I do if there was no such thing as music? Can you imagine a world without music? No songs, no tunes, no rock, no roll, no jazz, no hymns, no boogie-woogie, no country-western, no symphonies. No singing in the shower. No whistling Dixie. Lovers wouldn’t have songs to romance to. There would be no such thing as “our song.” Sinatra couldn’t fly to the moon. Elvis couldn’t complain regarding humans stepping on his blue suede shoes. Tony Bennett would have to write a letter when it comes to how he left his heart in San Francisco. Willie might go on the road again, but without a guitar. And Ray Charles would look finelooking strange up on stage without a piano telling us that Georgia is on his mind. Then when the wedding day arrived, what would the bride march down the isle to? A poem? Silence? Applause? And when the happy couple marched out of the church together, would they do it to the bark of neighborhood dogs, or perhaps all the wedding guests talking at once? And at the reception, what would they dance to? The Funky Chicken just isn’t the same without music. Since rhythm is percentage of music, no drums would even be allowed. And the honeymoon I suppose would take place with radio news on, or perhaps the instructional channel accompanied by the drone of an air-conditioner. When baby arrives, do we lull her to sleep with a reading from Shakespeare? Or perhaps random readings from the dictionary or encyclopedia? Could we bore her to sleep with words? Nursery rhymes would have to be chanted or recited rather of sung. School music programs would of course be non-existent, as would school choirs and orchestras and bands. When the school football team plays, there would be no school fight song. Cheerleaders would have to cheer and dance minus any music. And when those birthdays roll around, we would have to all recite together in a monotone “happy birthday to you.” And when obligation calls, what would soldiers march to? What would take the place of music in parades, since there would be no marching bands? John Philip Sousa would have had to get a day job. And on the 4th of July there would be no patriotic songs – just speeches. At Christmas time there would be no Christmas carols. No rousing gospel music at Easter, no hymns in church. And may you imagine radio without music? Nothing but news and talk shows and bla bla bla bla…. I don’t know with regards to you, but I’ve had it up to here just thinking with regards to it. I’m heading for the piano now to celebrate the fact that our Creator gave us the wondrous and inspiring and uplifting gift of music that we all take for granted. I think I’ll play a nursery rhyme or two, then the wedding march, then Silent Night, then Auld Lang Syne, then Fur Elise, then the blues, then a little jazz, then… and then…
38 of 38 people found the following review helpful. 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. 27 of 27 people found the following review helpful. 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. 19 of 20 people found the following review helpful. 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. 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. |
A great set