D. Phil University of York Department of Music July 1994 ABSTRACT
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C V-ýAIRLESIiVýS: CONSISTENT IN CHAOS A STUDY OF SELECTEDLARGE ORCHESTRAL WORKS PETERTHOMAS WILSON D. Phil University of York Department of Music July 1994 ABSTRACT "Charles Ives: Consistent in Chaos -a study of selected large-orchestral works" comprises a series of analytical studies that attempt to find order and consistency beyond the often chaotic surface of Ives' orchestral music. Proceeding from a dissatisfaction with what are perceived to be `descriptive' past accounts of the composer, a more rigorous analytical approach uncovers compositional consistencies within the selected works, often based on the permutation and manipulation of simple pitch-sets and melodic cells and the inclusion of carefully controlled `spoiler' elements. The use of linear reductive graphs also focuses on the larger scale proliferation of the music and helps provide an answer to the perennial question of whether or not the symphonic works have a fundamental basis in tonality. Rather than tracing single analytical issues across all the selected works, each chapter examines a separate piece or movement from beginning to end, initially responding empirically to the demands of the music. The effects of Ives' multifarious techniques and styles are therefore assessed in context, with the intention of providing a musically relevant picture of his serious, concert works. 2 CONTENTS Title Page 1 Abstract 2 Contents 3 Acknowledgments 4 Chapter One An Essay before the Sonatas 5 Chapter Two Second Symphony 8 First movement 11 Chapter Three Two "Contemplations" 21 The Unanswered Question 23 Central Park in the Dark 31 Chapter Four Third Symphony 41 The Old Folks Gatherin' 43 Chapter Five Three Places in New England 57 The "St. Gaudens" in Boston Common 60 Putnam's Camp, Redding, Connecticut 67 The Housatonic at Stockbridge 92 ChapterSix Fourth Symphony 110 Prelude 112 Second Movement 128 Fourth Movement 157 Overview 169 Chapter Seven Robert Browning Overture 173 Chapter Eight Chickens,lions and consistencies 189 Bibliography 193 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thanks must got to: Kendall Crilly, public services librarian at the John Herrick JacksonMusic Library at Yale, for accessto the Ives manuscripts. James Sinclair, conductor of Orchestra New England and executive director of the Charles Ives Society, for his assistance, advice and enthusiasm. The British Academy, for funding a research visit to Yale and providing a studentship whilst in York. Damian Le Gassick, for help with computing, typography and technical hints. 1. Mellish, for help with several of the diagrams. Icebreaker, for diversion. Special thanks to: Tim Howell, my supervisor at York, for his patience and insight. And finally to S, without whom... Text drafted in Microsoft Word on it Macintosh Music examplescreated in NoteWriter, MacDraw Pro, SuperPaintand Cricket Graph Manuscript compiled in Quark XPress Set in Times and Delphian 4 CHAPTER, ONE AN ESSAYBEFORE THE SONATAS "The material undergoesperpetual organic change, elements arrive, proliferate, divide and then either disappear or mutate into other elements. At first all of this occurs on the surface, in terms of canons (or perhaps heterophony might be a better description): lines imitate each other and thereby produce harmony. But then the lines that are duplicating begin to rebel and as the piece advances this questionof bifurcation deepens. The pulse itself on which the music is basedwarps and splits apart and, in so doing stratifies the harmony. And that means that at times the texture can be in three or four temporal and harmonic zones at once. On the other hand, as everything is based on a few hidden, immensely simple musical cells, all of this diverse activity can suddenlyfuse into periodic, regular, 1 pulsed simplicity. " Although the above description could plausibly belong to several of Charles Ives' orchestral works, it was actually written in 1993, almost forty years after the composer's death, for the premiere of a new work by George Benjamin. Whilst on the one hand this demonstrates how advanced Ives was for his time (or conversely, how much New Music still owes to him - however indirectly), it is included here by way of a contrast to the non-musical, overly descriptive language that is often used to describe his music. Under this banner can be included many of the sociological, historical, programmatic and poetically descriptive texts that, whilst often evocative and successful in their own terms, only rarely seem to promote a fuller understanding of the actual substance of Ives' compositions. Ives was acutely aware of his position outside the musical mainstream and never courted popular acclaim. Even today, the myth of the maligned iconoclast is as much a part of the popular perception of the composer as his compositional legacy. This thesis, however, began simply from a curiosity with the actual sounds of the music, before inevitably embracing historical research. The author therefore make no apologies for leaving biographical detail, except where musically relevant, to other sources. All written musical analysis is communicated, by definition, through the use of a meta- or secondary language,2 be it symbolic, poetic or just plain English. The art of 5 Introduction musical analysis can therefore partly be described as the art of translation. The `translation' of the structural element of music is correspondingly most highly developed in genres that appear to be ordered according to the meta-language that describes pattern-making, in other words, geometry. It is not so surprising then, that the modulo-12 mathematical basis of serialism, and the symmetrical cycle-of-fifths that drives tonality, make them amongst the most convincingly analysable of compositional systems. Where the musical meaning appears to run contrary to easily derived structural patterns however, as is the case with much of Ives' output, so commentators quickly fall back on programmatic and descriptive accounts of the music to fill the analytical gap. The origins of this study were therefore based on the premise that the music was susceptible to some sort of patterning that fell outside the usual bounds of enquiry; a suspicion fuelled by the recognition of an instantly recognisable Ives sound- world that seemed to be more systematised and consistent than the superficially chaotic mismatching of timbres and materials would suggest. One of the major analytical problems that has always been associated with the music of Charles Ives is the stylistic variations between, and even within, individual pieces. A pluralistic compositional approach somehow demands a corresponding analytical one, but since analysis traditionally seeks common denominators there appears to be something of a contradiction in terms. In the Fourth Symphony, for example, the second and fourth movements are highly dissonant and atonal, the first a blend of the chromatic and diatonic, whilst the third is consonant and plainly tonal. Any single analytical methodology that claimed to unify all these disparate elements could consequently only come up with the most nebulous and generalised of conclusions. Whilst preliminary studies in a range of analytical techniques as diverse as voice- leading, set-theory and semiotics has been useful as a background to this thesis, no single approach can cater for the range of techniques posited by Ives music. Consequently, the analytical techniques in this study are derived empirically for each work covered. Whilst this may not appear the most scientific way to establish correspondences across a broad range of styles, an approach to each work arising from the particular "problem" encountered, uncovers a surprising consistency to both Ives' conceptual and technical thought. In fact, the hazy historical background to Ives' compositional technique, complicated by the influence of his didactic father, is in itself a good example of empiricism; what can be assumed to be the a priori or established rules when it comes to an examination of Central Park in The Dark for instance? With a composer so prolific and wide ranging in approach as Ives, the process of selectivity, although it becomes self-justifying as the thesis progresses, is worth explaining here. The choice of works included is partly defined by the need to provide a broad coverage of musical styles and techniques. In addition to the lesser requirement of a legitimate chronological spread, the works included here can therefore 6 Introduction all be said to be exemplars of particular ideas or processes. In Chapter Two, the Second Symphony shows Ives' early allegiance to the developmental processes of Brahms and Beethoven in conjunction with the fledgling use of musical quotation. The contrasting, more `experimental' side to his character is then explored in Chapter Three through The Unanswered Question and Central Park in The Dark. The meeting of these two streams is demonstrated in the transitional Third Symphony that shows a final use of a traditional symphonic form whilst further exploring a rigorous, but still relatively consonant, experimental agenda. The central focus of the study is then reached in Chapters Five and Six with the Three Places in New England and the Fourth Symphony, perhaps the joint pinnacles of Ives' orchestral achievements in their uncompromising vision. A final chapter on the Robert Browning Overture examines one of the less well known and perhaps least successful works, yet one that contains elements of an early proto-serial technique. The linear coverage of all the works, rather than