Concord, by Phillip Bush

Concord

by Phillip Bush

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1.	Charles Ives: Piano Sonata No. 2 “Concord, Mass., 1840-60” - Emerson 16:32	info	buy track
2.	Charles Ives: Piano Sonata No. 2 “Concord, Mass., 1840-60” - Hawthorne 12:28		buy track
3.	Charles Ives: Piano Sonata No. 2 “Concord, Mass., 1840-60” - The Alcotts 06:03		buy track
4.	Charles Ives: Piano Sonata No. 2 “Concord, Mass., 1840-60” - Thoreau 12:39	info	buy track
5.	Marion Bauer: Six Preludes for Piano, Op. 15 - 1 (for left hand) 02:48	info	buy track
6.	Marion Bauer: Six Preludes for Piano, Op. 15 - 2 02:36		buy track
7.	Marion Bauer: Six Preludes for Piano, Op. 15 - 3 01:09		buy track
8.	Marion Bauer: Six Preludes for Piano, Op. 15 - 4 02:27		buy track
9.	Marion Bauer: Six Preludes for Piano, Op. 15 - 5 02:32		buy track
10.	Marion Bauer: Six Preludes for Piano, Op. 15 - 6 02:15		buy track

about

A little over a century ago, a Musical America reviewer described this piece as “without any doubt the most startling conglomeration of meaningless notes that we have ever seen engraved on white paper.” Another, writing in 1939, insisted it contains “a sense of the encompassing terror and splendor of human life and human destiny.” The last word has not been said about Charles Ives’ Second Piano Sonata, nor – given its openness to interpretation – will it ever be. But at the hands and fierce musical intelligence of Phillip Bush, who – over three decades of playing it has made it something of a lifestyle – the “Concord” has more to say with each hearing.

Bush writes, “As both a player and a listener of the ‘Concord’ Sonata, the central contradiction I find so alluring is that, in spite of all these ‘Modernisms’ that so many in the American musical establishment found unsettling a century ago, at heart the Sonata is a profoundly Romantic work.”

Many artists have been inspired directly by nature. In this case, though, the relationship is meta: Ives (1874-1954) pays musical tribute to the literary types who gathered around Concord, Massachussetts, 1840-1860, and who, in turn, wrote about the spiritual power of Nature. What could be more transcendental? Or Romantic?

“The anti-Wagnerian, stripped-down, drily percussive style beginning to dominate piano composition in Europe in the early part of the 20th century is not in evidence here. To put it only slightly more clumsily, one could say that if you changed the pitches, “Emerson” could be Brahmsian; “Hawthorne” Lisztian; “Thoreau” Debussy-ish.”

In recitals, Phillip Bush likes to set the stage for the ”Concord” by performing its contemporaries, including works by Arthur Foote, Henry Cowell, Amy Beach, and Ruth Crawford Seeger. Marion Bauer (1882-1955), though, is perhaps the least known of these. She was the very first in the long line of American composers who went to Paris to study with Nadia Boulanger (herself a student of Stravinsky). By pairing her Preludes with the Ives sonata, we can better appreciate some of the more or less radical visions of the time.

Phillip Bush is one of today’s most acclaimed interpreters of contemporary music. He has traveled the world with the Philip Glass Ensemble, Steve Reich and Musicians, worked closely with composers from Adams to Wuorinen, and given recitals from Carnegie Hall to Sydney Opera House. He teaches piano and chamber music at the University of South Carolina, Columbia.

credits

released February 11, 2023

Recording Engineer: Jeff Francis
Recorded August 14-16, 2019 at University of South Carolina School of Music Recital Hall; Columbia, SC
Mastered by Erdem Helvacıoğlu
Designed by Philip Blackburn

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about

Phillip Bush Columbia, South Carolina

Phillip Bush is one of today’s most acclaimed interpreters of contemporary music. He has traveled the world with the Philip Glass Ensemble, Steve Reich and Musicians, worked closely with composers from Adams to Wuorinen, and given recitals from Carnegie Hall to Sydney Opera House. He teaches piano and chamber music at the University of South Carolina, Columbia. ... more

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