Anthony de Mare, piano
Charles Ives, Henry Cowell and Lou Harrison belong together by virtue of a complex network of personal and musical connections. All three were rebels and innovators who today are revered as emblems of the radical spirit in American music. When their music was new all three were dismissed as mavericks or eccentrics, or damned with faint praise as “pioneers” — labels that emphasize only one aspect of their work and obscure an equally important one: the seriousness of their commitment to making a new sort of American music true to their own vision and experience.
This disc reminds us that all three men were pianists, and the music recorded here was written in the first instance for their own performance. However, each of the three composers had a distinct relationship to the piano. After his youth Ives rarely played in public: the piano became the instrument at which he composed and tried out ideas. Cowell, in contrast, attracted a great deal of notoriety as a performer of his own piano music: newspaper critics in San Francisco, New York, London, Berlin and Vienna made great copy from this small and exuberantly energetic man with his strange tone-cluster music (tone-clusters, heard in most of the Cowell pieces on this disc, are large chords of adjacent notes played either conventionally by the fingers or, for larger clusters, by the fist, the palm of the hand or the whole forearm). Harrison, throughout his composing life, has been attracted to early keyboards such as the harpsichord or clavichord as much as to the modern piano; the piano is only one instrumental resource among many from around the world for which he has composed, and occupies a place of no special importance in his large output.
This title, originally issued on the CRI label, is now available as a burn-on-demand CD (CD-R) or download in MP3/320, FLAC or WAV formats. CD-Rs come in a protective sleeve; no print booklet or jewel case included. Liner notes are accessible via the link above.
Wizards & Wildmen - Piano Music of Charles Ives, Henry Cowell and Lou Harrison
| MP3/320 | $17.00 | |
| FLAC | $17.00 | |
| WAV | $17.00 | |
| CD-R | $17.00 |
A *.pdf of the notes may be accessed here free of charge.
Track Listing
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Exultation
Henry Cowell
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Aeolian Harp
Henry Cowell
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from Piano Sonata No. 2, Concord Mass. 1840-1860: III. The Alcotts
Charles Ives
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Buy
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Third Piano Sonata: I. Slowing & singing
Lou Harrison
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Buy
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Third Piano Sonata: II. Fast & rugged
Lou Harrison
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Buy
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Third Piano Sonata: III. Very slow, very singing & solemn
Lou Harrison
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Buy
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Prelude for Grandpiano (to Henry Cowell)
Lou Harrison
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Buy
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The Lilt of The Reel
Henry Cowell
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Buy
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Tiger
Henry Cowell
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Buy
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Three Improvisations: I.
Charles Ives
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Buy
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Three Improvisations: II.
Charles Ives
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Buy
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Three Improvisations III.
Charles Ives
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Buy
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Study No. 22
Charles Ives
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Buy
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Homage to Milhaud
Lou Harrison
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Buy
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New York Waltzes: I. Waltz in C
Lou Harrison
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Buy
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New York Waltzes: II. Hesitation Waltz
Lou Harrison
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Buy
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New York Waltzes: III. Waltz in A
Lou Harrison
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Buy
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Largo Ostinato
Lou Harrison
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Buy
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Dynamic Motion
Henry Cowell
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Buy
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Five Encores to Dynamic Motion: What's This
Henry Cowell
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Buy
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Five Encores to Dynamic Motion: Amiable Conversation
Henry Cowell
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Buy
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Five Encores to Dynamic Motion: Advertisement
Henry Cowell
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Buy
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Five Encores to Dynamic Motion: Antinomy
Henry Cowell
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Buy
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Five Encores to Dynamic Motion: Time Table
Henry Cowell
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Buy
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The Celestial Railroad
Charles Ives
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Buy
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May Rain
Lou Harrison
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Buy
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Saraband
Lou Harrison
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Buy
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The Banshee
Henry Cowell
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Buy
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