Posted on 06/29/2008 4:30:50 AM PDT by Apollo 13
It is Sunday and I am in the mood to probe the interest at FR for one of America's all time greatest artists and more specifically, classical composers: Charles Ives. I learned about him via composer, lyricist, and Brian Wilson collaborator Van Dyke Parks (also a true American original). And my love has, since it began in 1990 or thereabouts, never diminished). I have all of his recorded works and would not want to single out one masterpiece, they're all great, with the possible exception of the First Symphony (mainly because there's still too much Schumann and Brahms in there, and too little American quirkiness, so to speak). Some of the pieces I have thrice, because it's so lovely to compare Bernstein's, Tilson-Thomas', and Seiji Ozawa's view on them. The 'Concord Sonata' is a masterwork, a personal meditation on four American sages. Ives is a most metaphysical composer, able to translate poetry and philosphy directly into music of the first magnitude, without intermittent rationalization of it all. And he's a poet himself. I mean, just take the titles and subscripts of his works... 'Calcium Light Night', 'Central Park In The Dark', 'Three Places In New England', and many more. I love the man. Any more diehards out there?
...and Gershwin in turn was THE inspirator for my own American popular music hero: Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. He taught himself to play the piano and from 1962 to this day he plays ‘Rhapsody In Blue’, to feel good and lift himself out of a bad mood...
It’s safe to say that without Gershwin, Brian Wilson’s triumphant masterpieces ‘Pet Sounds’ and ‘SMiLE’ would never have seen the light of day.
Coming up tomorrow: my thread on another American treasure: guitarist John Fahey (well, since I consider this one a resonant success, I feel new encouragement).
But do continue to wrote about Ives... I just love your replies on this one!
Cheers, A13.
The hidden gem of his recordings is the specially issued CBS Centennial Boxed set....absolutely fantastic collection including recordings of Ives himself at the piano...singing!
The Kronos quartet later "remixed" one of his vocals into a brand new composition. Ive's is a great American original.
The Concord Sonata rocks....I still play it in my car at full volume when I pull up to a hot chick at a stop light.
A bit of trivia: Bruce Hornsby used the opening phrase from the 3rd movement of the Concord Sonata ("The Alcotts") as the intro to the tune "Every Little Kiss" on his platinum "Way it Is" album.
I recently read the autobiography of Nicolas Slonimsky in which he has a lot to say about Charles Ives.
Ives associated discordant music with masculinity.
^^^
Okay, well, then maybe that explains it: I am a woman.
I believe ‘Joy to the World’ was adapted from Handel’s ‘Messaiah’.
Just in Europe? On a name recognition test I'll bet only about one percent of Americans know who he was. But then again any classical composer of this century would only get little more than one to ten percent of Americans knowing who they were. I can't say that I love his music, but I thought his piece on the circus was very interesting.
You are on the right track. Keep listening to other pieces he wrote. I recommend his songs. A lot of them are based on protestant hymns (with a twist). You may find those easier to stomach at first hearing.
Handel was a contemporary of Isaac Watts, who wrote the words to “Joy to the World,” but Mason—a fan of Handel—may or may not have adapted melodies from The Messiah to create the song.
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