The life and work of Charles Ives
- The sound of Experiment
- Oct 21, 2024
- 9 min read
Updated: Oct 24, 2024
Early life
Charles Ives (1874–1954) was an important American modernist composer and indeed one of the first American composers of international renown. He was born in Danbury, Connecticut on October 20, 1874 and died in May 1954 in New York City. Ives' family was among the most prominent in business and political improvement. She was active in progressive social movements of the last century, including the abolition of slavery. He was one of the first composers to participate in a systematic program of experimental music, using musical techniques such as polytonality, polyrhythmy, tonal complexes, aleatoric elements and quadrants. His experimentation foreshadowed many musical innovations that were later more widely adopted during the 20th century. As such, he is often regarded as the leading American art music composer of the 20th century [1].
In 1893, Ives enrolled at the Hopkins School, where he was captain of the baseball team. The following year, the composer entered Yale University to study music under Horace Parker. Later that year, his father died, a crushing blow to him, but he largely continued the musical experimentation he had begun with him.
Career
(1898) Ives had a successful career in the insurance industry. He began working in the New York department of the Mutual Life Insurance Company shortly after graduating from Yale. At the same time, he worked as a church organist. The following year, he started working in a family insurance office. When the company closed in 1907, Ives and a friend opened their own insurance company. where he remained until his retirement. That same year, Ives suffered the first of many heart attacks probably of psychological rather than physical origin. A year later, (1908), he married Harmony Twitchell and they moved into Ives' New York City apartment. He also continued to be a prolific composer until (in 1918) he suffered another heart attack and composed very few works.
Music
Ives' musical career and dedication began at a young age when he began playing drums in his father's band. He published a large collection of songs, many of which had piano parts [1]. As early as the "First Symphony" the composer's academic skills for writing in the traditional sonata form of the late 19thcentury were shown . as well as the tendency to display an individualistic and iconoclastic style [20].
The sources of Ives' tonal images included hymn melodies and traditional songs. He also incorporated melodies of the city band in the holiday parade, the wrestlers in the Saturday night dances, patriotic songs, emotional ballads and the melodies of Stephen Foster [1].
Ives published a large collection of his songs, and many had piano parts that paralleled contemporary movements in Europe, including duotony and omnitonality. As a pianist he was accomplished and was able to improvise in various styles of music. Although he composed two string quartets and other chamber music works, he is now best known for his orchestral music [1].
Around the beginning of the 20th century, Ives composed Symphony No. 2, which marked the composer's departure from the conservative approach of his composition master. The "Second Symphony" foreshadowed the composer's later compositional style, although the piece is relatively conservative by Ives' standards [20].
Later life
According to his wife, one day in early 1927 Ives went down with tears in his eyes. He could not compose any more, he said; "Nothing sounds right." Many theories have been put forward to explain the silence of his last years. It seems as mysterious as the last decades of the life of Sibelius, who stopped composing around the same time. While Ives had stopped composing and was increasingly plagued by health problems, he continued to revise and improve his previous work, as well as to oversee premieres of his music [1].
In 1930, after continuing health problems, including diabetes, he retired from his insurance business. Although he had more time to devote to music, he was unable to write anything new [1]. In the same decade, Copland listened to Ives' 114 self-published songs and was so impressed that he published a newspaper article praising the collection [1].
Death (1940-1950)
During this time, Bernard Hermann began promoting Ives, who was then working as a conductor at CBS and had become principal conductor of the CBS Symphony Orchestra. When they met, Hermann confessed that he had tried to perform Concorde's Sonata and agreed to make a series of recordings for piano [1].
In 1954, Ives suffered a stroke to which he succumbed.
Recognition
During his early career, his music was ignored. Many of his works remained unperformed for many years. His musical experiments, including his increasing use of dissonance, were not well received by his contemporaries. The difficulties in performing the rhythmic complexities in his major orchestral works made them daunting challenges even decades after they were composed [1].
Later in life, the quality of his music was publicly recognized and came to be regarded as an "American standard". In the 1950s, recognition of Ives' music steadily increased. He received praise from Schoenberg, who considered him a monument of artistic integrity, and from William Schumann's New York School. Early supporters of Ives' music included Henry Cowell, Elliot Carter, and Aaron Copland. Cowell's New Music magazine published a significant number of Ives' scores after its approval. But for nearly 40 years, Ives had few performances of his music that he had not personally arranged or supported financially [1].
Posterity
A strong proof of Ives' greatness comes from Schoenberg who wrote of Ives:
"There is a great man living in this country - a composer. He has solved the problem of how to maintain oneself and learn He responds to negligence with contempt. He is not forced to accept praise or responsibility. His name is Ives" [20].
Further, Ives was a generous financial supporter of twentieth-century music. Often, he secretly financed works written by other composers, telling his beneficiaries that his wife wanted to do so. Nikola Slonimsky said in 1971: "He financed my entire career" [1].
Ives was also said to have won the admiration of Gustav Mahler, who had said he was a true musical revolutionary. It is said that Mahler spoke of the premiere of Ives' Third Symphony with the New York Philharmonic, but died in 1911 before conducting this premiere [1].
Especially in recent years, Ives' reputation has increased significantly. Shortly after 1974, Columbia Records released Ives' piano recordings on a special LP set in celebration of its 100th anniversary. In 2004, the Juilliard School commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of his death by performing his music for six days. On April 1, 2006, New World Records released 42 tracks of his recordings on CD [1].
Compositions
Variations in America (1891)
The first work we will hear today is called "Variations of America" performed by the Brass Ensemble of the San Francisco Conservatory conducted by Paul Welkamer [15].
It is a composition for organ. It was written in 1891 when Ives was seventeen years old and working as an organist. The work premiered in a recital celebrating the Fourth of July [1, 2]. It consists of 9 parts and a cover of a traditional melody, known as "America" and was then the de facto anthem of the United States [2]. Although the piece is considered provocative even by modern concert instrumentalists, he spoke of playing the pedal in the final variation as "almost as fun as playing baseball" [2].
Central Park in the Dark (1906)
We will continue the show musically with the work "Central Park in the Dark" performed by the North Sinfonia Orchestra under the baton of James Sinclair [16].
It was written in 1906. It is a musical composition for chamber orchestra [3]. It is a depiction of sounds of nature and events that people would have heard on a bench in Central Park on a warm summer night thirty years ago. The harmony of the strings he uses consists of changing chord structures that are not based solely on third intervals, but on a combination of third, fourth and fifth. Near the end of the piece, the rest of the orchestra builds into a large mess which ends in a dissonant chord, leaving the string section to finish the piece except for a short violin duet which continued to play on various unusual chord structures. The work is considered to be the first radical musical work of the twentieth century [1].
During his early career, his music was largely ignored. Many of his works remained unperformed for many years. His musical experiments, including his increasing use of dissonance, were not well received by his contemporaries. The difficulties in performing the rhythmic complexities in his major orchestral works made them daunting challenges even decades after they were composed [1].
Later in life, the quality of his music was publicly recognized and came to be regarded as an "American standard". Cowell's New Music magazine published a significant number of Ives' scores after its approval. But for nearly 40 years, Ives had few performances of his music that he had not personally arranged or supported financially [1].
String Quartet number 2 (1907-1913)
The following work is called "String Quartet number 2" performed in 1967 by Juilliard's String Quartet [17].
It was written between 1907 and 1913. It is a programmatic work which depicts four men discussing. According to the dramatic conception proposed by the titles of the movements, Ives treats the four instruments with an unprecedented degree of individuality: each has its own particular character, and the overall quality of the work results from a kind of forced fusion of the four different structural elements of texture" [13].
Unanswered Question (1908)
We will continue with the work entitled "Unanswered Question" performed by the North Sinfonia Orchestra under the baton of James Sinclair [18].
It was written in 1908. It consists of an unusual combination of instruments. Includes trumpet, four flutes and string quartet. The work is clearly influenced by New England writers Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. It was originally combined with "Central Park in the Dark" as they were both contemplative. As with many of Ives' works, it was largely unknown until much later in the composer's life.[4]
A Symphony: Holiday in New England (1910)
We continue with the work "A Symphony: Vacation in New England" performed by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Leonard Bernstein [19].
Ives began composing it around 1910. During this period, Ives composed his most successful works, such as the work we hear [1]. It is a composition for orchestra consisting of four movements. The movements coincide with each season. winter, spring, summer and autumn, respectively. We listen to the third part entitled "Fourth of July" performed by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Leonard Bernstein [6]. While together these pieces are called symphony, they can be played individually and considered as separate works.
Three Places in New England (1910)
We continue with the project "Three Places in New England".
It was written in 1910 and is one of his most successful works [1]. It is a composition for orchestra in three movements. We listen to the second movement entitled "Camp of Putnam" performed in 1994 by the New York Philharmonic under the baton of Kurt Masour [8].
Symphony No. 4 (1910-1916)
We continue with the work "Symphony of Number 4".
Its completion took six years: from 1910 to 1916. Nevertheless, the first full performance of the work took place in 1965, i.e. half a century after its completion and more than a decade after the composer's death [1, 9]. It is one of the most notable pieces of orchestral music completed by the composer. This four-movement symphony is notable for its complexity and its vast orchestra. It consists of four parts. We listen to the first part, the prelude performed by Daniel Schlossberg on piano, with the Yale Music Club and concert group conducted by Toshiyuki Shimada [10].
Piano Sonata No. 2 (1911-1920)
We continue with the work "Piano Sonata No. 2", also known as the "Concorde Sonata".
As the title suggests, it is a piano sonata and one of the composer's most famous and remarkable pieces. It consists of four parts [11]. We listen to the fourth part entitled Thoreau performed by John Kirkpatrick [12]. Ives began composing it in 1911" and by 1915, he had completed most of it. However, it was not until 1920 that the piece was published [1].
This sonata was one of his most notable pieces. This piece contains one of the most striking examples of his experimentation. In the second movement, he instructed the pianist to use a piece of wood to create a huge cluster string. The piece also demonstrates Ives' love of musical juxtaposition: the opening bars of Ludwig van Beethoven's "Symphony No.5" refer to every movement.
In the 1940s, after meeting Lou Harrison, an admirer of his music, he began editing and promoting the sonata that led to its revision. Later, he won the Pulitzer Prize for music. He gave the prize money, half of which he gave to Harrison, saying "the prizes are for boys and I am mature" [1].
Symphony of the Universe (1911-1928)
We will close today's show with the unfinished work "Symphony of the Universe".
Ives was unable to complete the deal despite two decades of work. This was due to his health problems as well as his changing ideas about the project [1]. The date of composition is unknown, but he probably worked on it periodically between 1911 and 1928. It was intended as a spatial composition for two or more orchestras. It is divided into three sections [13]. We listen to the first section in execution of a German radio orchestra conducted by Michael Stern [14].
Bibliography
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