Charles Ives & Bernhard Gander: Piano Works Joonas Ahonen

• Charles Ives (1874 - 1954): Piano Sonata No. 1:
• 1 Ives: Piano Sonata No. 1: I. Adagio con moto 09:32
• 2 Ives: Piano Sonata No. 1: IIa. Allegro moderato - Andante 01:40
• 3 Ives: Piano Sonata No. 1: IIb. In the Inn 04:28
• 4 Ives: Piano Sonata No. 1: III. Largo 08:11
• 5 Ives: Piano Sonata No. 1: IVa. — 01:13
• 6 Ives: Piano Sonata No. 1: IVb. Allegro 03:09
• 7 Ives: Piano Sonata No. 1: V. Andante maestoso 12:12
• Bernhard Gander (b. 1969):
• 8 Gander: Peter Parker 11:23
• Charles Ives:
• 9 Ives: Three-Page Sonata 08:10
• Total Runtime 59:58

Info for Charles Ives & Bernhard Gander: Piano Works

Of the two large piano sonatas composed by Charles Ives, No. 2 (’the Concord Sonata’) is by far the best-known, overshadowing its sibling. The First Piano Sonata is comparably ambitious, however, and with a playing time of more than 40 minutes, similarly expansive. Like many works by Ives it had a long gestation period, beginning in 1901 with additions and revisions being made well into the 1920s. In contrast to the Concord, Ives didn’t provide the work with an explicit programme, but wrote that it was ‘mostly about the outdoor life in Connecticut villages in the 1880s and 90s.’ This can to an extent explain the various borrowings from hymns, but New York City, where Ives was living, has also left a clear mark with a liberal use of ragtime rhythms.

Ives composed a third ‘sonata’ for the piano, the so-called Three-Page Sonata, cast in three brief but challenging movements. The two works are both included on this recording by Joonas Ahonen, who released the Concord Sonata in 2017 to critical acclaim, with the French magazine Classica praising ‘his youthful impetuosity and technical prowess’. Ives’ sonatas frame the third work on the disc, the Austrian composer Bernhard Gander’s Peter Parker from 2004. It is the alter ego of the superhero Spider-Man that has lent his name to Gander’s highly virtuosic and original piano piece which presents a panorama of the superhero’s patterns of movement, transformed into music.

Joonas Ahonen, piano

Joonas Ahonen
Pianist Joonas Ahonen’s musical interests take him from performing late 18th-century music on fortepiano to giving premiere performances of the music of our times. He is a member of Klangforum Wien, one of the leading ensembles for contemporary music, and a member of Rödberg fortepianotrio. Over the years, Ahonen has performed as a soloist with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Ictus. His recordings on BIS label, Ligeti Piano Concerto and Ives Piano Sonata nr. 2, “Concord” have received critical acclaim in the music press.

Ahonen’s recent performances include the world premiere of Rebecca Saunders’ new solo piano work “to an utterance” at the Philharmonie Berlin, debut with the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado, Philipp Maintz’s Piano Concerto with the ORF RSO Wien under the baton of Marin Alsop as well as duo appearances with the violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja in Lockenhaus, Gstaad and Teatro alla Scala in Milan.

Booklet for Charles Ives & Bernhard Gander: Piano Works