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| 1. | Songs My Mother Taught Me
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| 2. | Feldeinsamkeit / In Summer Fields
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| 3. | At The River
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| 4. | The Cage
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| 5. | Weil' Auf Mir / Eyes So Dark
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| 6. | Serenity
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| 7. | In The Mornin'
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| 8. | The Housatonic At Stockbridge
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| 9. | The See'r
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| 10. | The New River
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| 11. | Like A Sick Eagle
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| 12. | Waltz
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Jazz
Theo Bleckmann [voice, live electronic processing]
Kneebody
Ben Wendel [tenor saxophone, bassoon, melodica, effects]
Adam Benjamin [Piano, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer, effects]
Shane Endsley [trumpet, percussion, effects]
Kaveh Rastegar [electric and acoustic bass, effects]
Nate Wood [drums]
Compositions by Charles Ives, arrg. by Theo Bleckmann and Kneebody
In Summer 2007, invited by Kent Nagano to the Munich Opera Festival, singer Theo Bleckmann meets the group Kneebody to create a new song cycle from works by Charles Ives. Twelve compositions for voice and piano/ensemble/orchestra, written by this significant American composer at the start of the 20th century, will be reworked by Theo Bleckmann and members of Kneebody. In his work, Ives characteristically combines the folk voice of America with classical forms and traditions from Europe. Everyday American music, quotes from marches, hymns and dances are brought into play, but he doesn't write music to please: instead, he uses contrasting elements and sonic irritations to create an image of America that sketches the inner character of this New World society after the War of Independence. The extensive re-workings by Theo Bleckmann and Kneebody put Ives' music in a context alongside elements of jazz, electronics and improvisation. "Twelve Songs by Charles Ives" is the setting of an (American) life: not of a specific life, but as a sort of compendium of existence, though without offering any answers.
"One thing I am certain of is that, if I have done anything good in music, it was, first, because of my father, and second, because of my wife."
In 1895 Charles Ives composes "Songs My Mother Taught Me", the opening song on this album entitled "Twelve Songs by Charles Ives". "Feldeinsamkeit" - in the English version, it's called "In Summer Fields" - sets a text by Hermann Allmers; it is one of four German songs that Ives includes in his "114 Songs". In this collection of songs, he adds a comment on these four songs, expressly pointing out that they have already been set by famous composers - in this case Johannes Brahms. He suspects that he is in danger of being seen as a competitor. But this sport-orientated outlook has nothing to do with art, and Ives is sure that the composers who set these texts before him were not claiming to have a monopoly. The melody of "At The River" (1916), borrowed from the hymn "Beautiful River", already occurs in the opening bars of the third movement of Ives' Sonata No. 4 for violin and piano (1906-1916). Ives has rewritten the violin part for voice (and piano). The melody remains more or less true to the original hymn, and the text too conveys deep spirituality, yet in the closing lines - "Yes, we'll gather at the river / That flows by the throne of God. / Shall we gather? / Shall we gather at the river?" - he makes changes involving both rhythmic and harmonic alterations. Ives gives expression to scenes from daily life through fable-like stories. In "The Cage", a boy observes a leopard pacing to and fro in a cage, and the piece ends with the sentence "Is life anything like that?" "Weil' auf mir", composed by Ives in 1902, had already been set by many other composers, including Max Reger (with the title "Bitte"). "Serenity" ends with the phrase "The beauty of thy peace", and this piece also refers to Ives' years in New York, where he was active as organist and choirmaster in various churches, and wrote church cantatas. The harmonization of the spiritual "In the Mornin'" (dated 1929) is regarded as Ives' last work as a composer. A heart attack at the age of 44 in 1918 meant that he had to sharply reduce his composing. For years, Ives tries to ignore this limitation, but he can't regain proper health, and in 1927, in tears, he is said to have told his wife: "I can't seem to compose any more. I try and try and nothing comes out right."
Straight after his honeymoon in 1908 ("Come, whisper near, / I also of much resting have a fear; / Let me tomorrow thy companion be, / By fall and shallow to the adventurous sea!"), seeing the new bridge over the Housatonic River, Ives drafts "The Housatonic at Stockbridge". In 1911 he composes the whole piece, and in 1912 makes an orchestral version. "The See'r" is a sort of vision of life passing by, as observed by an old man with a straw in his mouth.The song "The New River" (1911, revised 1913 and 1921?), in an arrangement by Theo Bleckmann, leads to another Ives-adaptation by Bleckmann. "Like A Sick Eagle" - the sick eagle is looking up into the sky - deals with a weakening mind, and the expectation of death. In his work, Ives is constantly switching to atonality, which is surely one reason why Ives' music was largely ignored during his lifetime, so that for many years most of his works lay unperformed. "Waltz", from 1895, is a kind of sound-collage of a wedding; time after time, Ives quotes, adapts and makes fun of the themes and rhythms of folk dances.
The singer Theo Bleckmann is part of a close circle of Winter & Winter artists. Collaboration began back in 2004 with the performance and production of the opera "Der Kastanienball"; since then came the albums "Las Vegas Rhapsody", "Berlin", and now "Twelve Songs by Charles Ives", a collaboration with the Kneebody ensemble.
For seven years, the Los Angeles/New York band Kneebody has been one of the most interesting groups around, influenced in equal measure by Jimi Hendrix, Steve Reich, Duke Ellington and Aphex Twin. The five young musicians can draw on their experience in world-famous ensembles:
Shane Endsley -Trumpet (Ani DiFranco, Ravi Coltrane, Steve Coleman)
Ben Wendel - Saxophones, Effects (Snoop Dogg, Ignacio Berroa, Daedelus)
Kaveh Rastegar - Electric Bass (Colin Hay, Nels Cline)
Adam Benjamin - Fender Rhodes (Dave Douglas, Jimmy Chamberlin)
Nate Wood - Drums (The Calling, Taylor Hawkins)
"Twelve Songs by Charles Ives" is a homage to an exceptional composer from the United States who was denied the possibility of having the strength and radiance of his work recognized and understood by his society during his lifetime. The adaptations by Theo Bleckmann and Kneebody create a new perception, one that doesn't solve the puzzles of Charles Ives' music, but poses them afresh.
--- Stefan Winter |
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