Ives: Three Places in New England (Orchestral Set No. 1); Orchestral Set No. 2 / Ruggles: Sun-treader; Men and Mountains / Seeger: Andante for Strings (from String Quartet, 1931)
You'll probably find this filed under Charles Ives, since hisThree Places in New Englandleads off the disc. However, while that's enough to recommend the disc, it's the music of Ruggles and Seeger that deserve our attention here. Ruggles (1876-1971) was a contemporary of Charles Ives and as much of an experimenter. He pursed atonality more directly than Ives, as inSun-Treader(1935), much to his credit. Seeger (mother of Pete Seeger) is also a much-neglected American Modernist, and herAndante for Stringsjust isn't enough here. I highly recommend all this music.--Paul Cook