Ives' "Concord" Sonata -- Premiere Recording by John Kirkpatrick, 1948

Charles Ives (1874-1954): Piano Sonata No. 2, "Concord, Mass., 1840–60" John Kirkpatrick, piano First recording, released in 1948 Some material in the Concord Sonata dates back as far as 1904, but Ives did not begin substantial work on it until around 1911 and largely completed the sonata by 1915. The sonata's four movements represent figures associated with transcendentalism. In the introduction to his Essays Before a Sonata (published immediately before the Concord Sonata) Ives said the work was his "impression of the spirit of transcendentalism that is associated in the minds of many with Concord, Massachusetts of over a half century ago. This is undertaken in impressionistic pictures of Emerson and Thoreau, a sketch of the Alcotts, and a scherzo supposed to reflect a lighter quality which is often found in the fantastic side of Hawthorne." The four movements are: 1. "Emerson" (after Ralph Waldo Emerson) 0:00 2. "Hawthorne" (after Nathaniel Hawthorne) 13:07 3. "The Alcotts" (after Bronson Alcott and Louisa May Alcott) 22:43 4. "Thoreau" (after Henry David Thoreau) 27:40 The piece demonstrates Ives' experimental tendencies: much of it is written without barlines, the harmonies are advanced, and in the second movement, there is a cluster chord created by depressing the piano's keys with a 143⁄4 inch long piece of wood. The piece also amply demonstrates Ives' fondness for musical quotation: the opening bars of Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 are quoted in each movement. Sinclair's catalogue also notes less obvious quotations of Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata and various other works. Unusually for a piano sonata, there are optional parts for other instruments: near the end of the first movement there is an optional part for viola, and in the last movement a flute (an instrument which Thoreau played) briefly appears. John Kirkpatrick (1905-1991) was an American classical pianist and music scholar, best known for championing the works of Charles Ives, Aaron Copland, Carl Ruggles, and Roy Harris. He gave the first complete public performance of Ives' Concord Sonata in 1939, which became a turning point in the composer's public recognition. At the time of his death Kirkpatrick was a professor emeritus at Yale University, where he had also been the curator of the Charles Ives archives. (Source: Wikipedia)