Henry Brant Collection Vol. 7

“This is, as far as I know, the only piece which, every time I play it or turn to it, seems unfinished,” Charles Ives wrote of the “Emerson” movement of his piano sonata No. 2, Concord Mass., 1840-1860. More than half a century after the Concord Sonata’s premiere in 1939, a composer profoundly influenced by Ives agreed with him. Henry Brant thought the work cried out for orchestration. “I sensed that here, potentially, was a tremendous orchestral piece [that] might well become the ‘Great American Symphony’ that we had been seeking for years.” While the musical Moby Dick no longer obsesses us as it did in the 1950’s when Brant first considered the project, he has “discovered” a significant orchestral work in its own right. The premiere of A Concord Symphony took place in 1995, and this release, the seventh volume in Innova’s laudable Brant collection, is its first commercial recording. 

Nothing less than a masterstroke by this talented orchestrator, this is a brilliant realisation that takes the sonata to new depths of understanding and new heights of expression. While an original can never be improved upon per se, A Concord Symphony captures the sonata’s latent orchestral timbre so convincingly that it certainly stands a credible equal.

“Emerson” opens in an epic, growing sweep, with central allusions to Beethoven’s Fifth taking on new-found emphasis in symphonic form. But it is the “Hawthorne” movement that best justifies Brant’s project. The intrusion of “outside” music such as the circus band gains immeasurably from the rousing trumpets, blaring trombones, and twittering piccolos-creating the actual sound of a marching band rather than its pianistic approximation. Brant’s use of hushed, shimmering strings intermittently provide a mystical backdrop. While the pleasure of the pure pianism of the sonata is missed, dissonances here and throughout ring more pungently and clearer with the timbre of different instruments. Woodwinds provide such a perfect fit for the opening motif of “The Alcotts” that it’s hard to believe this was once piano music. Strings-at times lush, at times weeping- are aptly featured in the transcendental finale, “Thoreau”.

In this live recording from 2000, Dennis Russell Davies aids Brant’s task with a keen reading. That the Concertgebouw Orchestra sounds wonderfully redolent of Americana only shows just how effectively Brant wrought this orchestration.

– Andrew Druckenbrod, Gramophone

This is not merely a Concord transferred to orchestra, and Brant was wise to give it a separate name. There are passages I might not necessarily have recognized, so changed is the music’s texture – but the spirit is devoutly maintained. It’s a new work, a new Ives symphony, with far more chamber-like orchestration than his other symphonies, as was necessary to bring the pianistic content across. It is unheard before, and yet strangely familiar. It is faithful to the original with a devotion and intelligence that go beyond mere transcription. I look forward to falling in love with it all over again.

– Kyle Gann, Postclassic

Best of 2007

Henry Brant/Charles Ives: “A Concord Symphony” (Innova)‹The Minnesota-based label, an offshoot of the American Composers Forum, hits the big time with this heroic work, Brant¹s orchestration of Ives’s “Concord” Piano Sonata. No less than Dennis Russell Davies and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra do the honors.

– Russell Platt, The New Yorker

This is an orchestration by Henry Brant of Charles Ives’s Piano Sonata No 2, Concord Mass., 1840-60. Ives worked long at the sonata, incorporating material from 1904, and producing a revised edition of the published work in 1947. There are in the sonata hints for a possible future orchestration in that there is an optional viola part near the end of the first movement, and in the finale a brief appearance for flute. But Brant’s magisterial achievement, which was equally long in gestation (1958-94), is of course an entirely original conception of the piece, a viable and impressive addition to the concert repertoire. 

… Ives starts the work in full knowledge he too will excite controversy.

– Robert Anderson, Music and Vision

For all that one may wonder at the choices of orchestration, this Concord Symphony simply works. It translates Ives’ vision into a different form, and does so extremely effectively. It gives the listener a new perspective on the brilliant work that is the Concord Sonata. This recording is certainly an essential addition to any Ives collection.

– Kirk McElhearn, Music Web International