In the best way, Ives’ genius for managing an estate-planning firm by day, composing whenever he could, raising a family, and maintaining a well-adjusted composure make this the perfect background music for reading technical documents of any kind. Music this pure can only exist if it’s true to the artist’s form, and if you can convince yourself to read these compositions into the dry realities of a niche job, you’re set, and the music’s metaphysics feel, well, nice! But, Ives notoriously didn’t like to think of his music as “nice,” even though I can’t imagine a nicer man — constantly giving composing lessons, staying true to his ideals. Schoenberg regarded his purity higher than any composer, and when Ives’ frustration during WW2 regarding specific war bonds — matters that could save lives and arcana that he was well aware of, were ignored, his prima materia was never the same, and he eventually suffered a heart attack. The performance of these pieces by Alan Mandel is not only flawless but captures the spirit of Ives the way only a kindred spirit can! Listening to it actively requires a pure love of pitch, and if you don’t feel idealistic annoyance by default in this canard of a wentletrap we call Earth, then you won’t marvel at how much Ives’ elite universal Americana lifts you up! Charles and Alan mapped out a nearly matchless landscape!
This amazing set of Charles Ives compositions for piano, performed by Alan Mandel includes:
