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CONTRIBUTIONS of CHARLES IVES to CONTEMPORARY I

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CONTRIBUTIONS of CHARLES IVES to CONTEMPORARY I CONTRIBUTIONS OF CHARLES IVES TO CONTEMPORARY i\.11ERICAN SONG LITERATURE SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLVLENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF YlASTER OF ARTS IN HUS IC EDUCATION IN THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE TEXAS WOMAN'S U~-:jIVERS ITY COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS BY ROSANNE MITCHELL, B .M. DENL'ON, TEXAS AUGUST, 1971 TEXAS WOMAN'S UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Texas VVoman's University Denton, Texas ____._ .,_'....,I c..,..n..._.1 S..... f._· ------ 19 .. 71 --­ - o We hereby recommend that the thesis prepared under our supervfaion by Rosanne Mitchell entitled "Contributions of Charles Ives to ContemT)orary Arr.erican Song I,itera.ture" be accepted as fulfilling this part of the requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS Committee: Accepted~ 2--08470 TABLE OF CONTENTS T,IS'f OF EXA1-1PLES. • • • • • • . • • . • • • • • . • • . • . • . • • • iv PART I - INTRODUCTION. • . • . • . • . • . • . • . • • 1 PA ...R.T II - BIOGRAPHY. • . • • . • . • • • . • • • • . • • . • • • . • • . • • 5 PART I II - CHARA.CTERISTICS OF SONGS. • . • • . • . • . • . • • • 14 PART IV - RECITAL PROGRAM...... • • . • • . • . • . • • . • • . • • . • 20 PART V - CONCLUDING REMARKS.. • • • • • . • • • . • • • . • • • • • • • 32 APPENDIX A - RECITAL PROGRAM. • . • • . • . • . • . • . • • • • . • . • 3 7 BIBLIOGR.1\.PHY. • • . • • • . • . • . • • . • • . • • • . • . • • . • . • • • . • • • 34 iii. LIST OF EXAMPLES EXAMPLE TITLE PAGE EXAMPLE l 11THE CHILDREN'S HOUR" 22 EXAHPLE 2 11THE CHILDREN'S HOUR" 23 EXAMPLE 3 ''THO LITTLE FLOWERS" 24 EXAMPLE 4 "SONGS NY HOTHER TAUGHT ME" 25 EXAMPLE 5 11AT THE RIVER" 26 EXAMPLE 6 11 IN FLAi\!DERS FIELDS" 28 EXAMPLE 7 ''AN ELECTION" 29 EXANPLE- 8 ."AN ELECTION" 30 EXAMPLE 9 ''Ai~ ELECTION" 31 iv PART I INTRODUCTION This pa~er is designed to examine the 114 Songs of Charles Edward Ives to enable the author to select appropriate material for a recital of Ives's songs for medium voice. The program selected includes songs which show some of his unique charac­ teristics and most important contributions to the literature of i\;.71erican music. The songs "range in merit from first rate to downright awful: by Ives' s own admission, eight specifically are of 'no. musical value.' 111 Recently, musicians have discovered some of the unusual &spec ts of Ives' s music that are important not only to P.... merican music but to music in general. As time passes the importance of Ives to the music world is becoming more evident. As Paul Moor states: Ives exemplifies, more than any of his consanguine colleagues, the American nationalist in music. The description 'grassroots' could have been invented for Charles Ives; in spite of the cerebral complexities of his work., it still stems directly from the heart. Hear­ ing his music, we come to know not only him but the entire spirit of his New England, for the intensely per­ sonal character of his music has few equals in any cen­ tury.2 1 - Paul Moor, "On Horseback to Heaven: Charles Ives," Harper's Magazine, September, 1948, pp. 65-73. 2Paul Moor, "Two Titans," Theatre Arts, February., 1950, pp. 49-51. 1 2 Aaron Copland, a noted musician and composer himself, wrote con­ cerning Ives: " •.• about forty songs by Ives are a contribution to the art of song-writing that will remain a challenge and an inspiration to future generations of composers. 11 3 Henry and Sidney Cowell believe that Ives, along with SchOf:!·L1berg, S tr2.vinsky, and Eartok, ca.n be shown to be one of I the four '. great creative figures in music in the first half of the twentieth century. No composer has escaped the influences of the first two, but Ives and Bartek stand for something new whose power is only beginning to be felt. Both men went back deliberately into unsophisti­ cated music to explore and then carry fon1ard aspects of musical behavior that had gone unnoticed or had been abandoned by the eighteenth and nineteenth-century com­ posers who established the symphonic music of the West­ ern world ..• Ives's music had its roots in the church, stage, parlor and dance music of a small American town - the popular music of his time, in short.4 The 114 Songs are a good way of studying the various char­ acteristics and techniques Ives employed because they seem to be a capsule of the things that moved ·him. 5 The 114 Son&?. form the most original, imaginative) and powerful body of vocal music that we have from any American, and the songs have provided the readiest path to Ives's musical thinking for most people. Many of 'them have a touching lyrical quality; some are angry, others satirical. The best of them are musically very 3 . Moor, "On Horseback to Heaven: Charles Ives," p. 69. 4Henry Cowell and Sidney Cowell, Charles -Ives and His Music (New York: Oxford University Press, 1955), p. -z;:- ---- 5"In Search of Charles Ives," Tape n.25, vol. 2 of a broad­ cast located in the music library at North Texas State University, Denton, Texas. 4 daring, ,;vith vocal lines that are hard for the conven­ tionally trained artist, accompaniments that are often frightfully difficult, and rhythmic and tonal relations between voice and piano which require real work to master. Even when the melodic line alone presents no special problem, in combination with the accompaniment it offers a real challenge to musicianship. Sµrmounting the diffi­ culties of this music creates an intensity in the performer that approaches the composer's original exaltation and has brought audiences to their feet with enthusiasm and excitement. 6 6 Cowell, Charles ~' pp. 80-81. PART II B IOGRl\..PHY To understand Ives's music, it is beneficial to examine facts of his childhood and the environment to which he '.•ms exposed. Charles Edward Ives was born in Danbury, Connecticut on . October 20, 1874 to George and Mary Parmelee Ives. His father was an excellent musician and was considered a jack-of-all­ musical-trades in the small community of Danbury. Though George Ives considered himself-to be primarily a bandmaster, he also played the piano for dances, the organ for church, taught a.lmost ~ny instrument, and conducted choirs and chamber music groups. During his tenure as bandmaster of the First Connecticut Heavy Artillery in General Grant's army, George Ives and his music­ making won the praise of President Lincoln. Although he was not a composer, he liked to try out new sound relationships with the material at his command. Reflected in his son Charles's music in later years, one notices the interest both father and son had in musical happenstance. George Ives is said to have been intrigued at the musical effect of the combined sounds of his wife singing hymns in the kitchen as a man passed down the street whistling. He also experimented with quarter-tone instruments and acoustics. For example, he built an instrument that consisted of twenty­ four violin strings that were let down with weights and stretched 5 6 across a clothes-press. This did not seem to work out well however, so he usually resorted to the easier n~thod of tuning glasses to produce quarter-tones and other small intervals. One day, in an attempt to study the musical effect, he arranged the men in his band in different sections of the town square and instructed the various groups to play different pieces simul­ taneously. When Charles was five years old, his father began ins true t­ ing his son in music. Charles was trained in harmony, counter­ point, instrumentation, sight reading, piano, cornet and organ as well as being steeped in the literature of Bach, Beethoven and Stephen Foster. As a child, Charles recalls his father instruct­ ing him to sing ''Swanee River" in the key of E while the accom­ paniment was played in the key of C. The purpose for this, stated George Ives, was to enable his son to ifstretch his ears" and strengthen his musical mind so that he could learn to utilize and translate sounds he heard into music. In other words, he wanted to encourage Charles, as well as his brother, Moss, t6 use their ears and minds so that they could think for themselves and be more independent of customs and habits. Almost from the time he could walk, Charles.listened to his father's band rehearsals. In the community of Danbury, almost everyone was an active participant in music in one way or another. Activities included singing at church meetings, playing in the band, or just musi~al evenings at home. The music of Danbury was not sophisticated, yet it contained a vitality that was unique. From the hymn singing in village churches or outdoor camp meetings, the 7 popular songs of Stephen Foster, the minstrel tunes, and the music of country fairs, Charles gained a love and appreciation for the rural music around him. During his teenage years, Charles studied percussion from the local barber who had played the drum in George Ives's Danbury Civil War Band. When he was thirteen, he not only was playing percussion in his father's band, but he also composed his first 1 composition, a march entitled "Holiday Quick Step." During this period, he was also hired as organist for the West Street Con­ gregational Church in Danbury. He held this position for about a year during which time he was required to play two services on Sunday as well as give frequent recitals. A year later he was hired as organist at the First Baptist Church and was noted as being the youngest church organist in the state of Connecticut. Charles was also experimenting further with composition dur­ ing this time. At the death of the family dog, he wrote a passa­ caglia based on the "Dead March" from Saul. This march was later included in 114 Song_s, and entitled "Slow March." Charles however, was not a 11 s issy boy't who sat at home com­ posing and practicing musical instruments all the time.
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