The craggy, neo-Romantic style of Carl Ruggles (1876-1971) is often mentioned alongside that of his close friend and contemporary Charles Ives. In contrast to Ives’ prolific output and sometimes open-ended attitude toward the niceties of practical notation, Ruggles labored over his music, reworking and revising each of his few completed scores until they represented exactly what he wanted. He often did this by seeking feedback and advice from performers and scholars, among whom the late pianist John Kirkpatrick arguably was the most devoted. After Ruggles’ death, Kirkpatrick explored the voluminous sketches and fragments he left behind and assembled the most viable specimens into practical performing editions.
Several of these reveal a gentle, lyrical side to the composer that belies the crusty persona he worked hard to cultivate, such as the Valse Lente for piano, or the song “Prayer”. Others confirm and flesh out what we already know of Ruggles’ dissonant, declamatory sound world. Perhaps the most interesting is a piece for violin and piano called Mood, although it’s actually the most speculative of Kirkpatrick’s realizations here. Much detective work also went into realizing the substantial Visions, a work Ruggles may have planned to go with his set of four Evocations, which pianist Donald Berman plays in Kirkpatrick’s composer-supervised 1954 edition.
Although Berman previously recorded Evocations to fill out CRI’s The Unknown Ives Volume 1, the present remake is better engineered and a little freer in expression, yet more exacting in terms of Ruggles’ numerous tempo specifications. An intense and concentrated reading of Organum (with Christopher Oldfather on second piano) momentarily makes me forget the orchestral original. Berman’s masterful technique, decisive projection, and insightful musicianship are exactly what Ruggles needs, and his performer colleagues more than rise to the occasion. You also sense a labor of love in Berman’s scholarly and articulate booklet notes. No one with the slightest interest in Carl Ruggles can afford to miss this important release. [9/29/2005]
