Charles Ives (1874–1954)

One of the joys of reading about aesthetics, particular as the field applies to music, is that there is such a variance of thought about what is beautiful. For all three of the authors included in this collection, beauty is not solely defined by consonance and dissonance. These composer-authors grapple with the role of inspiration, philosophical contexts, and music itself.

Claude Debussy, "Monsieur Croche the Dilettante Hater" (1927)
Debussy does not mince words and offers invective toward show more everything from opera to arts administration. It is more music criticism than a specific treatise on aesthetics. It is impossible, however, to read this group of essays without tasting the clear flavor of Debussy's own aesthetic agenda. For example, the Paris Opera, for Debussy, "...continue[s] to produce curious noises which the people who pay call music, but there is no need to believe them implicitly." (24)

Ferruccio Busoni, "Sketch of a New Esthetic of Music "(1911)
Busoni gives the reader a more straightforward offering complete with footnotes and musical examples. However, even Busoni likes to wax poetic: "Tradition is a plaster mask taken from life..." (n.1, p. 7). In another footnote, Busoni makes the case for microtonality, attacking the idea of musical "purity":

"But what is "pure," and what "impure?" We hear a piano "gone out of tune," and whose intervals may thus have become "pure, but unserviceable," and it sounds impure to us. The diplomatic "Twelve-semitone system" is an invention mothered by necessity yet none the less do we sedulously guard its imperfections." (89)

Charles Ives, "Essays before a Sonata" (1920)
It is Ives' contribution that is the most beautiful read. He offers an essay that is one part program note (for the Concord Sonata (1915, rev. 1947)) to two parts philosophical and aesthetic treatise. Writing with all the passion and transcendental fervor he can muster, Ives presents various New England literary figureheads as aesthetes, blurring the line between the artistry of literature and that of music. show less

The classic Bernstein premiere recording of the great Second Symphony by Ives. This performance captures the sheer rugged charm of the symphony.

This is not my favorite Third Symphony performance, however. It seems more ungainly than it needs be. Indeed, it may be the worst recording of it I’ve ever heard.

The performance of the greatest concept art piece of the last century, The Unanswered Question, is fine.

This is the first CD of these performances by Bernstein and his usual orchestra. A show more later issue included a lecture by Bernstein not on this record. show less

Busoni is one of my favorite composers. He possessed a complex style that combined the height of the Romantic era with a Modernism based on new ideas. In compositions like his operas (Doktor Faust, Turandot, and Arlecchino) he was on the leading edge of the twentieth century. Yet, he looked backward to Bach with a stylistic approach steeped in the soul of Liszt. Born in Italy but German in his approach to music he was also a theorist of Music and this volume is his exploration of absolute show more music and the nature of modern tonal music. show less

Tracklist
Charles Ives Symphony No. 2 For Large Orchestra (34:33)
1 – I. Andante Moderato 5:50
2 – II. Allegro 10:53
3 – III. Adagio Cantabile 7:23
4 – IV. Lento Maestoso 2:15
5 – V. Allegro Molto Vivace 8:05

Paul Creston Symphony No. 2, Op.35 (21:55)
6 – I. Introduction And Song: Slow, With Deep Emotion 11:44
7 – II. Interlude And Dance: Moderately Slow 10:08