Ives First Piano Sonata

I first encountered Ives’ First Piano Sonata in my early teens and sensed immediately that I would learn to play it someday. That performance occurred some years later on my Masters degree recital in 1977 at The University at Buffalo. This performance of the first movement is from a 2001 concert at Manhattan School of Music. I have always felt that despite the fame of Ives’ Concord Sonata, the First was a stronger piece. In particular the heroic scale of the piano writing is sustained throughout the entire piece. In this regard, the Concord is split in two, the instrumental scale and duration of the first two movements dwarfing the last two. The First is also a much livelier piece, much of it based on ragtime. Ives was by many accounts an easily excited person and this is reflected in the sonata which fairly bursts with animation and drive. Controlling the urge to always push the music forward is the chief difficulty in performing it. I cannot say I entirely resisted this impulse. Nevertheless learning and performing this piece remains one of the most satisfying experiences of my life.