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Charles Ives

Joyce DiDonato's 'Eden' beckons humanity back to the garden

Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato's new album, Eden, is a meditation on the natural world. Sergi Jasanada/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Sergi Jasanada/Courtesy of the artist

Review

Deceptive Cadence

Joyce DiDonato's 'Eden' beckons humanity back to the garden

On her new album, the opera star suggests Mother Nature has a lot to teach us, if we'd only listen.

Joyce DiDonato's 'Eden' beckons humanity back to the garden

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An American Maverick Turns The Symphony On Its Head

Charles Ives, better known as an insurance executive in his time, wrote innovative symphonies incorporating American folk and hymn tunes. Corbis hide caption

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Corbis

Deceptive Cadence

An American Maverick Turns The Symphony On Its Head

Charles Ives biographer Jan Swafford traces the life of the New England insurance executive who forever transformed the American symphony. Ives's father, a Civil War bandmaster, said any harmony — however radical — was fine. "Nobody," Swafford writes, "had ever told a young composer that before."

Nashville Symphony Goes Electric, Eclectic

The Nashville Symphony with Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero (center) during Spring For Music at Carnegie Hall in Manhattan, New York on May 12, 2012. Melanie Burford/NPR hide caption

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Melanie Burford/NPR

Classics in Concert

Nashville Symphony Goes Electric, Eclectic

WQXR

The Nashville Symphony Orchestra brings a wonderfully weird program to Carnegie Hall, including the New York premiere of a new electric violin concerto by Terry Riley, with soloist Tracy Silverman.

Charles Ives' 'Concord' Sonata As A Symphony

Composer Henry Brant took 36 years to transform the "Concord" sonata by Charles Ives into a full-fledged symphony. SFS Media hide caption

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SFS Media

Review

Deceptive Cadence

Charles Ives' 'Concord' Sonata As A Symphony

The maverick American composer spent 43 years perfecting his Piano Sonata; it took another non-conformist American, Henry Brant, another 36 years to transform it into a symphony. Hear an excerpt.

'Concord' Symphony -- The Alcotts (Michael Tilson Thomas conducts the San Francisco Symphony)

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First Loves: Flutist Tim Munro's Rebellious Rock 'N' Roll

Tim Munro of eighth blackbird became enamored with Charles Ives' bizzare soundscape. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

Deceptive Cadence

First Loves: Flutist Tim Munro's Rebellious Rock 'N' Roll

The flutist from the ensemble eighth blackbird recalls the odd and powerful sounds of Charles Ives he discovered in a grade school music class. It would lead him to a world of contemporary composers whose music Munro proudly calls "my rock 'n' roll."

Charles Ives: Central Park In The Dark (Michael Tilson Thomas/Chicago Symphony)

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From the Top

Classical Teens, Superstar Sparkle In Boston

From Boston's New England Conservatory, an 18-year-old pianist plays Chopin, a teen string quartet performs Beethoven and renowned violinist Hilary Hahn collaborates with young musicians who are just about the age she was when her concert career took off.

Classical Teens, Superstar Sparkle In Boston

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Music Interviews

Celebrating the Music of Composer Charles Ives

Composer Charles Ives died 50 years ago Wednesday. Though Ives is now widely recognized as one of America's most important composers, his work was not performed during his most creative years. Biographer Jan Swafford says Charles Ives was a "Walt Whitman of sound," able to write pieces in traditional European styles, but with an American accent. Swafford has a remembrance.

Celebrating the Music of Composer Charles Ives

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