Songs of Charles Ives and Ernst Bacon
Liner Notes   Cat. No. NWCR675     Release Date: 2007-01-01

Helen Boatwright, soprano; John Kirkpatrick, piano; Ernst Bacon, piano


Charles Ives (1874-1954) is now widely known for all aspects of his work, though during his lifetime most of his music was unperformed. In 1922, Ives had a collection, 114 Songs, privately printed and circulated it to a list of musicians culled from the Musical Courier. For the end of the volume, Ives wrote a “Postface” which expresses what he felt about the solo song. He allows songs to speak for itself:

“A song has a few rights, the same as other ordinary citizens. If it feels like walking along the left-hand side of the street, passing the door of physiology or sit on the curb, why not let it?...Should it not have a chance to sing to itself, if it can sing?—to enjoy itself without making a bow, if it can’t make a bow?—to swim around in any ocean, if it can swim, without having to swallow “hook and bait,” or being sunk by an operatic greyhound? If it happens to feel like trying to fly

Ernst Bacon (1898-1990), whom Virgil Thomson called “one of America’s best composers,” was of that pioneering generation that found a voice for American music. Born in Chicago on May 26, 1898, Bacon’s music reflects the dual heritage of his Austrian mother, who gave him a love of song and an early start on the piano, and his American father.

As with Schubert, whose music was especially dear to Bacon, a large body of more than 250 art songs is the heart of an oeuvre that also includes numerous chamber, orchestral, and choral works, as well as descriptive pieces for piano. Accord- ing to Marshall Bialosky, Ernst Bacon was “one of the first composers to discover Emily Dickinson...and set a great number of her poems into some of the finest art song music, if not actually the very finest, of any American composer in our history.”

 

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.

Helen Boatwright

Songs of Charles Ives and Ernst Bacon

MP3/320 $16.00
WAV $16.00
CD-R $16.00
CD-Rs come in a protective sleeve; no print material or jewel case included.
A *.pdf of the notes may be accessed here free of charge.
   Liner Notes



Track Listing

Abide With Me
Charles Ives
Buy
Walking
Charles Ives
Buy
Where The Eagle
Charles Ives
Buy
Disclosure
Charles Ives
Buy
The White Gulls
Charles Ives
Buy
Two Little Flowers
Charles Ives
Buy
The Greatest Man
Charles Ives
Buy
The Children's Hour
Charles Ives
Buy
Berceuse
Charles Ives
Buy
Ann Street
Charles Ives
Buy
General William Booth Enters Into Heaven
Charles Ives
Buy
Autumn
Charles Ives
Buy
Swimmers
Charles Ives
Buy
Evening
Charles Ives
Buy
Harpalus
Charles Ives
Buy
Tarrant Moss
Charles Ives
Buy
Serenity
Charles Ives
Buy
At The River
Charles Ives
Buy
The See'r
Charles Ives
Buy
Maple Leaves
Charles Ives
Buy
1,2,3
Charles Ives
Buy
Tom Sails Away
Charles Ives
Buy
He Is There!
Charles Ives
Buy
In Flanders Fields
Ernst Bacon
Buy
It's All I Have to Bring
Ernst Bacon
Buy
Eden
Ernst Bacon
Buy
I'm Nobody
Ernst Bacon
Buy
As Well As Jesus?
Ernst Bacon
Buy
A Word
Ernst Bacon
Buy
Weeping and Sighing
Ernst Bacon
Buy
O Friend
Ernst Bacon
Buy
She Went
Ernst Bacon
Buy
A Threadless Way
Ernst Bacon
Buy
The Imperial Heart
Ernst Bacon
Buy
Summer's Lapse
Ernst Bacon
Buy
Is There Such a Thing as Day?
Ernst Bacon
Buy
To Make a Prairie
Ernst Bacon
Buy
Spider
Ernst Bacon
Buy
The Grass So Little Has To Do
Ernst Bacon
Buy
The Snake
Ernst Bacon
Buy
So Bashful
Ernst Bacon
Buy
Alabaster Wool
Ernst Bacon
Buy
Eternity
Ernst Bacon
Buy
Sunset
Ernst Bacon
Buy
The Simple Days
Ernst Bacon
Buy
On This Wondrous Sea
Ernst Bacon
Buy