Ives: The Symphonies

Ives: The Symphonies, performed by Dohnanyi, Marriner and Mehta ★★★
These are reasonable performances of Charles Ives, an early 20th-century American composer (1874-1954). Ives uses many American folk tunes and American hymn motifs in his writing. Together, he makes for very poorly convincing symphonies. His are symphonies that I would never use for my “Desert Island Collection” or attend in formal concert. I’ll settle on listening to these symphonies from time to time simply to stay knowledgeable in American music. They are not enjoyable. Better classical music in the 20th century is Russian and German.  The English speaking world flunks in the classical music realm.