IVES: Symphony No. 3 / Washington's Birthday

This is a fine selection of Ives's works. The Third Symphony has wonderful folk sounds and hymns to latch on to, while the raucous "Country Band" is a warm-yet-all-too-true invocation of the mediocre town bands that play badly but with great oomph. "Central Park in the Dark" is alternatingly spooky and impressionistic, the latter as sounds from outside the Park creep in. "Washington's Birthday" is the CD's most dissonant piece--hardly fun--in the middle of which Ives gives us some square-dance rhythms and the sound of a Jew's harp. "The Unanswered Question" is justly famous, a conglomeration of sounds and instrumental groups, which, in its four and a half minutes, says a great deal. These performances are all excellent, and for those who want a sort of Ives sampler, this bargain CD is ideal. --Robert Levine