I’ve been spending the afternoon with Charles Ives’ “Concord Sonata,” which I mentioned earlier today, in writing about Nathaniel Hawthorne. Then I discovered this, which I’d totally forgotten I owned. It’s “A Concord Symphony” – Ives’ sonata, brilliantly orchestrated by Canadian-born American composer Henry Brant.
Brant, the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize in 2002 for “Ice Field,” is probably best-known for his experiments with spatial music. Film music nuts will know him for his close association with composer Alex North. Brant’s bright, acerbic orchestrations lend zest to the soundtracks of “Spartacus,” “Cleopatra,” “Dragonslayer,” and so many others. In addition, he conducted the orchestra at the recording sessions for North’s rejected score to “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
Less well known is that he also worked as an orchestrator on film scores of Aaron Copland, Virgil Thomson (including “Louisiana Story,” for which Thomson was awarded the Pulitzer Prize), George Antheil, Marc Blitzstein, Douglas Moore, and Gordon Parks.
Brant says he wasn’t attempting to emulate Ives’ own orchestral style when searching for the right colors for “A Concord Symphony.” Rather, he approached the project in the manner Ravel or Schoenberg might have in their orchestrations of other composers’ works.
The effort of some 30 years (since he worked at it very sporadically), Brant’s treatment was completed in 1994. I think he did a terrific job. If you have difficulty getting into Ives’ sonata, give this a listen. It particularly pays dividends in the “Hawthorne” section (the second movement), lending some lift to the patriotic tunes (“Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean” and “Battle Cry of Freedom”) and the ragtime inflections.
My recording is on the Innova Records label (back of album pictured), with Dennis Russell Davies and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. The link is to a concert performance from 2010, with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony.
