Charles Ives in the Mirror: American Histories of an Iconic Composer

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Charles Ives in the Mirror American Histories of an Iconic Composer DAVID C. PAUL In this sweeping survey of intellectual and musical history, David C. Paul tells the new story of how the music of American composer Charles Ives (1874–1954) was shaped by shifting conceptions of American identity within and outside of musical culture. Paul focuses on the critics, composers, performers, and scholars whose contributions were most in!u- ential in shaping the critical discourse on Ives, many of them marquee names of American musical culture themselves, including Henry Cowell, Aaron Copland, Elliott Carter, and Leonard Bernstein. Paul explores both how Ives positioned his music amid changing philo- sophical and aesthetic currents and how others interpreted his contributions to American music. Although Ives’s initial efforts to "nd a public in the early twenties attracted a few devotees, the resurgence of interest in the American literary past during the thirties made a concert staple of his “Concord” Sonata, a work dedicated to nineteenth-century transcenden- talist writers. Paul shows how Ives was subsequently deployed as an icon of American freedom during the early Cold War period and how he came to be instigated at the head of a line of “American maverick” composers. Paul also examines why a recent cadre of scholars has beset the com- DAVID C. PAUL is an assistant profes- poser with Gilded Age social anxieties. sor of musicology and theory at the University of California, Santa Barbara. “By virtue of its depth of insight, its wide remit, and its succinct yet highly detailed presentation, this remarkable book is a considerable addition to A volume in the series Music in American Life the existing scholarship on this most fascinating of musical "gures.” 312 PAGES. 6.125 x 9.25 INCHES. —David Nicholls, author of John Cage 10 BLACK & WHITE PHOTOGRAPHS CLOTH, 978-0-252-03749-8. $45.00 “An outstanding work. Until now no one has created, in a single narrative, Publication of this book was supported by the the story of how Charles Ives’ music moved from the far outer fringes to AMS 75 PAYS Endowment of the American the central core of American musical culture, and David Paul has done Musicological Society, funded in part by the this in an exemplary manner. It is a tour-de-force in both its breadth and National Endowment for the Humanities and its insights.” the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and by a grant from the Henry and Edna Binkele Classical —Michael Broyles, author of Beethoven in America Music Fund. ORDERING INFORMATION Phone orders: (800) 621-2736 (USA/Canada); (773) 702-7000 (International) Fax orders: (800) 621-8476 (USA/Canada); (773) 702-7212 (International) Online orders: www.press.uillinois.edu U.S. Mail orders: Customer Service, Chicago Distribution Center, 11030 South Langley Avenue, Chicago IL 60628 Exam copies: Visit www.press.uillinois.edu/books/exam_copies.html Ebooks: Check with your preferred ebook store for ebook availability and ordering. www.press.uillinois.edu t 1325 South Oak Street t Champaign, IL 61820-6903.

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