IVES: Piano Sonata No. 2 / The Celestial Railroad

Album review

Charles Ives' Piano Sonata No. 2, Concord Mass.: 1840-60, popularly known as the Concord Sonata, has been recorded a good many times in the last 55 years, with no two interpretations turning out quite the same. This one, by pianist Steven Mayer, radically departs from most in that between the movements actor Kerry Shale reads relevant passages from Ives' writings on the subject, in addition to a couple of bits drawn from Emerson and Thoreau, transcendentalist authors whose works inspired Ives to compose this sonata. The effect is not distracting and the passages are brief; to those still struggling to come to terms with Ives' difficult work, the spoken interpolations may well prove enlightening. Those who know the Concord well already may be inclined to program the spoken parts out. This is an especially fine interpretation of the Concord, particularly the "Hawthorne" and "Thoreau" movements. Mayer's approach to "Emerson" is a bit tentative at the start, and his "Alcotts" is fine except that he inserts a very long pause in between the climax and final release, a device Ives indicates as an option, but does not take for himself on his own recording. It seems that many younger pianists these days like to take a long break at this point. Of especial interest is the filler employed here. As the late Transcriptions from Emerson directly relate to the material within the Concord, a sort of natural combination between these four pieces and the larger work practically suggests itself. But it would take a short Concord indeed to permit the presence of all four "Emerson" Transcriptions onto the same disc; here Mayer includes the First Transcription only. Mayer also includes Ives' seldom heard Varied Air & Variations in the best recording it's ever had; here it is cleanly played and true to Ives' dynamic markings and tempo. In The Celestial Railroad, another relatively rare item for Ives, Mayer decides not to succumb to the temptation of the composer's suggestion that a snare drummer might play along with one section of the piece, to good effect. Ives aficionados would certainly have welcomed a few words about the editions in use here -- certainly the 1970s Kirkpatrick edition of Varied Air & Variations is not particularly easy to read, and one wonders if Mayer may have created his own edition to work from. In any event, this Naxos disc is probably your best bet for a relatively inexpensive, and accessible, way to enjoy Ives' greatest piano masterwork.
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