From the Early 20th Andrew Rangell

• Carl Nielsen (1865 - 1931): 3 Piano Pieces, Op. 59, FS 131:
• 1 3 Piano Pieces, Op. 59, FS 131: No. 1, Impromptu. Allegro fluente 03:12
• 2 3 Piano Pieces, Op. 59, FS 131: No. 2, Adagio 02:34
• 3 3 Piano Pieces, Op. 59, FS 131: No. 3, Allegro non troppo 05:04
• George Enescu (1881 - 1955): Piano Suite No. 3, Op. 18:
• 4 Piano Suite No. 3, Op. 18: No. 7, Carillon Nocturne 07:08
• Arnold Schoenberg (1874 - 1951): 2 Klavierstück, Op. 33:
• 5 2 Klavierstück, Op. 33: No. 1, — 02:35
• 6 2 Klavierstück, Op. 33: No. 2, — 04:12
• Charles Ives (1874 - 1954): Piano Sonata No. 2 "Concord, Mass., 1840-60":
• 7 Piano Sonata No. 2 "Concord, Mass., 1840-60": I. Emerson 16:26
• 8 Piano Sonata No. 2 "Concord, Mass., 1840-60": II. Hawthorne 11:44
• 9 Piano Sonata No. 2 "Concord, Mass., 1840-60": III. The Alcotts 05:36
• 10 Piano Sonata No. 2 "Concord, Mass., 1840-60": IV. Thoreau 10:37
• Total Runtime 01:09:08

Info for From the Early 20th

Andrew Rangell, who has previously recorded J.S. Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, and Eastern European folk music for the Steinway & Sons label, now turns his attention to composers of the early 20th century for his latest album release.

The centerpiece of the album is Charles Ives’ Concord Sonata, whose “monumental cussedness, tenderness, and imaginative daring epitomize the character and gifts of its Yankee creator,” in Rangell’s words. Rangell makes the work his own through several idiosyncratic executional decisions, including playing on piano the optional viola part at the end of the “Emerson” movement; using his own forearm instead of a block of wood for the black-key tone clusters in “Hawthorne”; and in “Thoreau,” whistling the optional flute solo. “I hope there may be, in this species of self-reliance, something of Emerson,” writes Rangell.

Framing the Concord Sonata are three shorter works from Ives’ contemporaries, including the final piano works of Arnold Schoenberg and Carl Nielsen; and George Enescu’s “Carillon Nocturne,” written at the same time as the Concord, and which Rangell sees as a spiritual counterpart to Ives’ “Thoreau” meditation.

Andrew Rangell writes: Charles Ives Concord Sonata, whose monumental cussedness, tenderness, and imaginative daring epitomize the character and gifts of its Yankee creator, emerged, not easily, into the world one century ago. Ives final work for piano, it contains multitudes. To adorn this centerpiece, Andrew Rangell has chosen the final, and stellar, piano pieces of Arnold Schoenberg and Carl Nielsen, European contemporaries who (like Ives) spoke their minds Lastly, Enescus Carillon Nocturne, written at the same time as Ives sonata, is for me a mystical parallel to the Concord meditation called Thoreau. Long recognized as among our most eloquent and insightful interpreters of the major keyboard works of Bach and Beethoven, pianist Andrew Rangell has drawn acclaim for a variety of recordings. The present recording (Mr. Rangells 30th) can be considered a counterpart, and complement, to his 2009 Bridge recording of Ives First Piano Sonata, Nielsens Op. 45 Suite, and John McDonalds Meditation Before a Sonata, a beautiful homage to Ives Concord.

Andrew Rangell, piano

Andrew Rangell
Long recognized as among the most eloquent and insightful interpreters of the major keyboard works of Bach and Beethoven, pianist Andrew Rangell has drawn acclaim for a variety of recordings, ranging from the music of Sweelinck, Farnaby, and Gibbons to that of Janacek, Enescu, Nielsen, Bartok, Valen, Christian Wolff, and many others. The present recording (Mr. Rangell's 30th disc) can be considered a counterpart, and complement, to his 2009 Bridge recording of Ives' First Piano Sonata, Nielsen's Op.45 Suite, and John McDonald's Meditation Before a Sonata (2003), a beautiful homage to Ives' Concord.

Andrew Rangell made his New York debut as winner of the Malraux Award of the Concert Artists’ Guild, and has since performed and lectured throughout the United States, and in Europe and Israel. He has also taught on the faculties of Dartmouth, Middlebury, and Tufts University. In the 1980s, already recognized as a distinctive recitalist and collaborative artist, Mr. Rangell gained national attention – and the award of an Avery Fisher Career Grant – for his vivid traversals of the complete Beethoven sonata-cycle in New York, Boston, Cleveland, Rochester, Denver, and other U.S. Cities. A hand injury sustained in 1991 forced Mr. Rangell to gradually alter the trajectory of his career, and eventually to place his highest priority on recording. In recent years he has created several DVDs for children – integrating his special talents as author, illustrator, narrator, and pianist.

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