Most connaisseurs of classical music and even most musicians will probably be on the same page like I used to be on concerning Charles Ives: of course the name is very well known, as is the fact that he is one of the important American composers, you kind of know where to put him stilistically and "the unanswered question" comes to mind right away. After that - nothing much.
Together with Steffen Schleiermacher I was lucky enough to participate in the wonderful movie "The unanswered Ives" directed by Anne-Kathrin Peitz (available on DVD here ). This production allowed me to not only get some deeper insight in the life of the composer - he was the one who invented our modern day insurance system! - but also and most of all it prompted me to dive into the colorful oevre of the songs written by charles Ives. From well over a hundred of them Steffen and I found greatest joy in selecting a number of pieces, which can now be found on the CD "In the Alley" . Of course you can also buy it on Amazon, but I prefer to recommend shops that treat their employees better...
The label Dabringhaus und Grimm is known for highest standards of audio-quality, this is why their recordings are only available as hard copies, no streaming, no download, sorry! But to feed your curiosity Steffen and I made a series of little talks on a selection of songs, after which you can listen to some of them on Youtube .
When the release date of the CD was moved up due to COVID_19 I feared that it would come and go unheard - but now we got an amazing start after all because "In the Alley" was picked "CD of the month" inOpernwelt magazineSo I am hoping that we will be able to make this beautiful and colorful music, this mix of Americana, american Impressionism, sometimes subtle sometimes not so subtle humor, compex and simple harmonics and melody, known to a lot more people. Enjoy!