Review: St.Clair and the Pacific Symphony revive Charles Ives’ Symphony No. 2. The Orange County Register, April 9, 2016.
Review: St.Clair and the Pacific Symphony revive Charles Ives’ Symphony No. 2. The Orange County Register, April 9, 2016.
April 9, 2016
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Happy to see the PSO do this work. I do agree with you that it’s one of the greatest (if not THE greatest) American symphony. I would say either this symphony or Schuman’s 3rd. The Ives though is such a brilliant, touching and riotous symphony. It deserves far more performances.
It was particularly satisfying to hear the Ives 2nd Symphony, a familiar old chestnut that managed to be recognizable while at the same time a welcome departure from the usual stuff. It’s a perfect example of what many of us wish would show up more often in future seasons.
It’s great when we get to re-discover works that fit within the traditional canon, yet haven’t completely worn out their welcome as a result of being performed with annoying frequency.
Perhaps in a future season, they might (for once) skip the umpteenth performance of, say, “Pictures At An Exhibition” Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D or Dvorak’s 9th (“New World”) Symphony (all great works, but presented entirely too often) and in their place program other worthwhile (albeit less frequently performed) gems like the Ives Symphony #2.