The St. Olaf Choir's mission is to perform compositions of great musical integrity that clearly communicate the Christian faith, aiming to provide music of hope, joy, compassion, and love.
Composer Biography
Charles Ives, born in Connecticut in 1874, received an entirely American musical training, influenced by Protestant spirit and marching bands, unlike many contemporaries who studied in Europe.
Compositional Technique
Charles Ives' oratorio, The Celestial Country, while following the scheme of his teacher Horatio Parker's work, includes distinctive differences like plenty of unresolved dissonances and false relations.
Performer Biography
The St. Olaf Choir was founded in 1912 by Frederik Melius Christiansen, a Norwegian choirmaster who studied in Germany and emphasized perfect intonation, blend, diction, and phrasing.
Composer Biography
Charles Ives' creative life as a composer ended around the Great War, with his pen remaining dry for the last 30 years of his life, though major conductors and composers began to champion his work during this period.
Composition History
The Celestial Country was composed before 1900, likely when Charles Ives was an organist, and its first performance in April 1902 was exactly 100 years before this recording.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Charles Ives' father, George Ives, encouraged his son's individuality, once telling him that not every dissonance needs to resolve if it doesn't feel like it.
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