American Music Overview! Charles Ives (1874-1954)! §" Born and raised in Danbury, Connecticut.! §" Father George Ives was local bandleader; fostered sense of experimentation in his children.! §" Rugged New England individualism; interest in transcendentalist movement (e.g., Thoreau, Emerson, Hawthorne)! §" Accomplished organist and avid baseball fanatic.! §" Musical influences include Beethoven, American folk tunes, patriotic music, church hymns, negro spirituals, Stephen Foster songs; later ragtime.! §" Unique combination of patriotic nostalgia and progressive experimentation.! Variations on “America” (1891), for organ Charles Ives (1874-1954)! §" Studied music composition with Horatio Parker at Yale University (1894-98)! §" Symphony No. 1 was his senior thesis, submitted as a graduation requirement. ! §" Went into business as an insurance salesman in order not to compromise his musical vision; co- founded Ives & Myrick Insurance Co. in 1907.! §" Married to Harmony Twitchell in 1908 and moved to New York City.! §" Composed on evenings and weekends; supported his compositional activity with wealth accumulated as an insurance executive. ! Symphony No. 1, Movement I (1898)! Symphony No. 2, Movement IV (1897-1902)! Charles Ives (1874-1954)! Ives in Battery Park (c.1913).! Ives at the time of his marriage to Harmony Twitchell (1909).! Offices of Ives & Myrick, New York City.! String Quartet No. 2, Movement II—“Arguments” (1913-15)! Symphony No. 4, Movements II & III (1910-16)! Charles Ives (1913) Charles Ives (1874-1954)! §" Suffered chronic health problems beginning in 1907, eventually resulting in a complete cessation of new compositional work in the early 1920s.! §" Creative work for the remainder of his life devoted to constant reworking and editing of his earlier works.! 1935! 1945! §" Spent his later years supporting new American music and young composers.! §" Public recognition of his work came late in life, championed by Nicolas Slonimsky, Henry Cowell, Aaron Copland, Lou Harrison, Leopold Stokowski, Bernard Herrmann, and Leonard Bernstein.! §" Won the Pulitzer Prize in Music (1947) for the Third Symphony (1904).! American Music Chronology Charles IVES! Edgard VARÉSE! Carl RUGGLES! Henry COWELL! “American Five”! Wallingford RIEGGER! John BECKER Nadia BOULANGER! Stravinsky / “Les Six”! Aaron COPLAND! Aaron COPLAND! Roger SESSIONS! Walter PISTON! George ANTHEIL! “Boulangerie”! Virgil THOMSON! Ruth CRAWFORD SEEGER! EXPERIMENTAL William SCHUMAN! Conlon NANCARROW! Roy HARRIS! Henry BRANT Elliott CARTER Elliott CARTER Howard HANSON! Samuel BARBER! Milton BABBITT! John CAGE! TRADITIONAL ! Leonard BERNSTEIN! Vladimir USSACHEVSKY! ! Morton FELDMAN! “The New York School”! Ned ROREM Otto LUENING Christian WOLFF! George ROCHBERG Donald MARTINO! Earle BROWN uptown Lukas FOSS! Lou HARRISON! Gunther SCHULLER! Ralph SHAPEY downtown Pauline OLIVEROS George CRUMB! Kenneth GABURO LaMonte YOUNG! Donald ERB! Roger REYNOLDS Terry RILEY! Jacob DRUCKMAN Mario DAVIDOVSKY! Steve REICH! “Minimalists”! David DEL TREDICI Charles WUORINEN! Philip GLASS Joan TOWER! Harvey SOLLBERGER John ADAMS! John CORIGLIANO! Laurie ANDERSON! Joseph SCHWANTNER! Frank ZAPPA! Meredith MONK! John ADAMS Tania LÉON John ZORN! Julia WOLFE! David LANG! “Bang on a Can”! Michael DAUGHERTY Michael GORDON! American Experimentalists! Carl Ruggles (1876-1971)! George Antheil (1900-1959)! Sun-Treader (1926-31) Ballet mécanique (1923-25)! Edgard Varése (1883-1965)! Ruth Crawford Seeger (1901-1953)! Ionisation (1929-31)! String Quartet (1931)! American Traditionalists! L-R: Virgil Thomson, Walter Piston, Herbert Elwell, and Aaron Copland. Photographed in Nadia Boulanger’s Paris home (1925).! ”Boulangerie”: Nadia Boulanger and her class, Paris (1923). Aaron Copland is just to the right of Mdme. Boulanger.#! American Regionalism! Thomas Hart Benton: $ The Arts of the West (1932)! Grant Wood: $ American Gothic (1930)$ ! American Traditionalists! Aaron Copland (seated) with Leonard Bernstein (c. 1940).! L-R: Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, Gian-Carlo Menotti (1945).! Aaron Copland: Billy the Kid (1938)! Samuel Barber: Adagio for Strings (1936)! Copland, Barber, Menotti, Bernstein American Traditionalists! Virgil Thomson, Leonard Bernstein, Walter Piston, William Schuman, and Aaron Copland. Photographed at Philharmonic Hall in New York (1970).! Uptown/Downtown! Columbia-Princeton Composers: Mario Davidovsky, Milton Babbitt, Vladimir Ussachevsky, & Otto Luening, with student composers Pril Smily and Alice Shields at Columbia-Princeton Studio (1970).! ! New York School: Christian Wolff, Earle Brown, John Cage, Morton Feldman. Photographed in New York, 1962 (archives of Earle Brown).! Recent American Music! John Corigliano (b. 1938)! Tania Léon (b. 1943)! Symphony No. 1 (1988-89)! Indígena (1991)! Joseph Schwantner (b. 1943)! Michael Daugherty (b. 1954)! …and the mountains rising nowhere (1977)! Desi (1991)! Recent American Music! “Bang on a Can” founders: Julia Wolfe, David Lang, Michael Gordon! Bang on a Can! Additional Slides! Manuscript of Charles Ives’ Fourth of July from the $ “Holidays” Symphony (1904-13)! Recent American Music! Representative Works:! §"Concerto for Clarinet (1977)! §"Altered States (1980)—soundtrack; !Academy Award nomination ! §"Pied Piper Fantasy: Concerto for Flute !& Orchestra (1982)! §"Symphony No. 1 (1988-89)—orchestra; !Grawemeyer Award! §"The Ghosts of Versailles (1991)—opera! §"The Red Violin (1997)— soundtrack; !Academy Award! §"Symphony No. 2 (2000)—orchestra; !Pulitzer Prize! John Corigliano! (b. 1938)! Corigliano! Representative Works:! §"…and the mountains rising nowhere (1977) !—wind ensemble ! §"Aftertones of Infinity (1978)—orchestra; ! !Pulitzer Prize! §"Sparrows (1980)—soprano & chamber ! !ensemble ! §"Music of Amber (1981)— mixed chamber ! !ensemble! §"From a Dark Millenium (1981)—wind ! !ensemble! §"New Morning for the World (1982)—speaker !& orchestra! §"Distant Runes and Incantations (1984) ! !—amplified piano & orchestra! Joseph Schwantner! (b. 1943)! Schwantner! Representative Works:! §"Haiku (1973)—ballet ! §"Batá (1985)—orchestra !! §"Rituál (1987)—solo piano ! §"Batéy (1989)—vocal ensemble! §"Parajota Delaté (1988)—wind ensemble ! §"Indígena (1991)—large chamber ensemble ! §"Scourge of Hyacinths (1994)—chamber ! !opera ! §"Singin’ Sepia (1996)—soprano & chamber ! !ensemble! §"Horizons (1999)—orchestra! Tania Léon! (b. 1943)! Léon Representative Works:! §"Metropolis Symphony (1988-93)—orchestra ! §"Desi (1991)—orchestra; band ! §"Sing Sing: J. Edgar Hoover (1992)—string !quartet & tape! §"Dead Elvis (1993)—solo bassoon & chamber !ensemble ! §"Motown Metal (1994)—brass ensemble ! §"Le Tombeau de Liberace (1996)—solo piano !& chamber orchestra! §"Jackie O (1997)— chamber opera! §"Route 66 (1998)—orchestra! §"Used Car Salesman (2000)—percussion ! !quartet! Michael Daugherty ! (b. 1954)! Daugherty .