Charles ives biography symphony 4

American modernist composer (–)

For rectitude New Zealand international football (soccer) player, see Charles Ives (footballer). For the American physician, glance Charles Linnaeus Ives.

Charles Ives
Portrait of Ives by Clara Sipprell, c.&#;
Born	()October 20, Danbury, U.s.a., US
Died	May 19, () (aged&#;79) New Royalty City, US
Occupation(s)	Composer, actuary, businessman
Spouse	Harmony Twichell &#; (m.&#;)&#;

Charles Edward Ives (; October 20, &#;&#; May 19, ) was effect American modernist composer, actuary settle down businessman.

Ives was among position earliest renowned American composers simulation achieve recognition on a epidemic scale.^[2] His music was to a large extent ignored during his early life's work, and many of his mill went unperformed for many majority. Later in life, the noble of his music was openly recognized through the efforts type contemporaries like Henry Cowell stomach Lou Harrison, and he came to be regarded as in particular "American original".^[3][4] He was besides among the first composers acquiescent engage in a systematic promulgation of experimental music, with euphonic techniques including polytonality, polyrhythm, intonation clusters, aleatory elements, and phase of the moon tones.

His experimentation foreshadowed various musical innovations that were succeeding more widely adopted during grandeur 20th century. Hence, he comment often regarded as the trustworthy American composer of art theme of the 20th century.^[7]

Sources in shape Ives's tonal imagery included voucher tunes and traditional songs; flair also incorporated melodies of magnanimity town band at holiday walk in single file, the fiddlers at Saturday fallacious dances, patriotic songs, sentimental living-room ballads, and the melodies hark back to Stephen Foster.

Biography

Ives was whelped in Danbury, Connecticut, on Oct 20, ,^[8] the son disbursement George (Edward) Ives (August 3, – November 4, ),^[9] dinky US Army bandleader in magnanimity American Civil War, and wreath wife, Mary Elizabeth Ives (née Parmelee, January 2, or – January 25, ).^[10] The Iveses, descended from founding colonists go along with Connecticut, were one of Danbury's leading families, and they were prominent in business and subject improvement.

They were similarly resting in progressive social movements use up the 19th century, including description abolition of slavery.^[7][11]

George Ives required bands, choirs, and orchestras, subject taught music theory and cool number of instruments.^[12] Charles got his influences by sitting detain the Danbury town square mount listening to his father's walking band and other bands restitution other sides of the field simultaneously.

His father taught him and his brother (Joseph) Capsize Ives (February 5, – Apr 7, ^[13]) music,^[12] teaching conformity and counterpoint and guided culminate first compositions; George took differentiation open-minded approach to theory, up him to experiment in bitonal and polytonal harmonizations.^[7] It was from him that Ives too learned the music of Author Foster.^[14] He became a cathedral organist at the age sharing 14 and wrote various hymns and songs for church appointment, including his Variations on "America", which he wrote for uncluttered Fourth of July concert knoll Brewster, New York.

It go over the main points considered challenging even by pristine concert organists, but he splendidly spoke of it as produce "as much fun as interpretation baseball", a commentary on fillet own organ technique at cruise age.^[16]

Ives moved to New Shrine, Connecticut, in , enrolling currency the Hopkins School, where take steps captained the baseball team.

Scope September , Ives entered Altruist University, studying under Horatio Saxist. Here he composed in first-class choral style similar to climax mentor, writing church music be proof against even an campaign song tail William McKinley.^[17] On November 4, , his father died, fastidious crushing blow to him, nevertheless to a large degree, unquestionable continued the musical experimentation earth had begun with him.

Wreath brother Moss later became keen lawyer.

At Yale, Ives was a prominent figure; he was a member of HeBoule, Delta Kappa Epsilon (Phi chapter) extremity Wolf's Head Society, and sat as chairman of the Vine Committee.^[17] He enjoyed sports silky Yale and played on honourableness varsity American football team. Archangel C.

Murphy, his coach, speedily remarked that it was neat as a pin "crying shame" that he all in so much time at melody as otherwise he could keep been a champion sprinter. Government works Calcium Light Night prosperous Yale-Princeton Football Game show significance influence of college and balls on Ives's composition. He wrote his Symphony No.

1 orangutan his senior thesis under Parker's supervision.^[17] Ives continued his employment as a church organist in the offing May

Soon after he calibrated from Yale in ,^[19] soil started work in the actuarial department of the Mutual Be Insurance Company of New Royalty.

In , Ives moved come into contact with employment with the insurance commitee Charles H. Raymond & Co., where he stayed until Regulate , upon the failure selected Raymond & Co., he stall his friend Julian Myrick blown their own insurance agency Alignment & Co., which later became Ives & Myrick, where significant remained until he retired.^[21]

During her majesty career as an insurance entrustment and actuary, Ives devised ingenious ways to structure life-insurance transfer for people of means, which laid the foundation of significance modern practice of estate malice aforethought.

His Life Insurance with Cooperation to Inheritance Tax, published foundation , was well received. Primate a result of this crystalclear achieved considerable fame in description insurance industry of his span, with many of his split peers surprised to learn desert he was also a framer. In his spare time, take action composed music and, until wreath marriage, worked as an organist in Danbury and New Seaport as well as Bloomfield, Additional Jersey, and New York City.^[17]

In , Ives suffered the eminent of several "heart attacks" (as he and his family hailed them) that he had from the beginning to the end of his life.

These attacks can have been psychological in produce rather than physical. Stuart Feder questions the legitimacy of these heart attacks, as he could not find any medical proof of them in previous archives. According to Feder, "For excellence only reliable information tells unheard of that he suffered from palpitations, not pain, the cardinal sign of heart attack."^[23] Following jurisdiction recovery from the attack, Type entered into one of high-mindedness most creative periods of rulership life as a composer.

In , he married Harmony Twichell, daughter of Congregational minister Carpenter Twichell and his wife, Julia Harmony Cushman.^[21] The young amalgamate moved into their own set attendants in New York.

Ives confidential a successful career in caution. He also continued to rectify a prolific composer until explicit suffered another of several affections attacks in , after which he composed very little.

Soil wrote his last piece, dignity song "Sunrise", in August ^[21] In , Ives published tiara Songs, which represents illustriousness breadth of his work in the same way a composer—it includes art songs, songs he wrote as skilful teenager and young man, stomach highly dissonant songs such orang-utan "The Majority".^[21]

According to his bride, one day in early , Ives came downstairs with overcome in his eyes.

He could compose no more, he said; "nothing sounds right".^[24] There control been numerous theories advanced flavour explain the silence of late years. It seems in the same way mysterious as the last a sprinkling decades of the life contribution Jean Sibelius, who stopped piece at almost the same disgust. While Ives had stopped part, and was increasingly plagued impervious to health problems, he continued have it in for revise and refine his originally work, as well as direct premieres of his music.^[21]

After undying health problems, including diabetes, crop he retired from his indemnity business.

Although he had author time to devote to opus, he was unable to indite any new music. During honourableness s, he revised his Concord Sonata, publishing it in (an earlier version of the sonata and the accompanying prose mass, Essays Before a Sonata^[25] were privately printed in ).^[26]

Ives dull of a stroke in descent New York City.

His woman, who died in at increase 92, bequeathed the royalties escape his music to the Land Academy of Arts and Copy for the Charles Ives Prize.^[27]

Musical career

Ives's career and dedication understanding music began when he in motion playing drums in his father's band at a young flinch.

Ives published a large give confidence of songs, many of which had piano parts. He support two string quartets and joker works of chamber music, even though he is now best publicize for his orchestral music. Sovereignty work as an organist escort him to write Variations discern "America" in , which inaccuracy premiered at a recital celebrating the Fourth of July.

He composed four numbered symphonies gorilla well as a number method works with the word 'Symphony' in their titles, as pitch as The Unanswered Question (), written for the unusual grouping of trumpet, four flutes, abstruse string quartet. The Unanswered Question was influenced by the Fresh England writers Ralph Waldo Writer and Henry David Thoreau.

Around , Ives began composing culminate most accomplished works, including primacy Holiday Symphony and Three Seats in New England. The Soft Sonata No. 2, Concord, Mass (known as the Concord Sonata), was one of his about notable pieces. He started gratuitous on this in and ripe most of it in Subdue, it was not until go wool-gathering the piece was published.

Rule revised version was not unfastened until This piece contains separate of the most striking examples of his experimentation. In honourableness second movement, he instructed righteousness pianist to use a 14+3&#;4&#;in (37&#;cm) piece of wood expire create a massive cluster harmonize. The piece also amply demonstrates Ives's fondness for musical quotation: the opening bars of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony are quoted reclaim each movement.

Sinclair's catalogue besides notes less obvious quotations hold sway over Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata and a variety of other works.^[28]

Another notable piece acquire orchestral music Ives completed was his Symphony No. 4, which he worked on from converge , with further revisions remit the s. This four-movement opus is notable for its convolution and vast orchestra.

A ripe performance of the work was not given until , section a century after it was completed and over a decennium after Ives's death.

Ives residue behind material for an unpurified Universe Symphony, which he was unable to complete despite figure decades of work. This was due to his health vexation as well as his motion ideas of the work.

Reception

Ives's music was largely ignored amid his life, particularly during integrity years in which he nimbly composed. Many of his promulgated works went unperformed even repeat years after his death obligate However, his reputation in extra recent years has greatly inflated. The Juilliard School commemorated prestige fiftieth anniversary of his kill by performing his music be in command of six days in His euphonious experiments, including his increasing conspire of dissonance, were not adequately received by his contemporaries.

Character difficulties in performing the measured complexities in his major orchestral works made them daunting challenges even decades after they were composed.

Early supporters of Ives's music included Henry Cowell, Elliott Carter, and Aaron Copland. Cowell's periodical New Music published topping substantial number of Ives's lots (with his approval).

But appearance nearly 40 years, Ives esoteric few performances of his symphony that he did not in person arrange or financially back. Stylishness generally used Nicolas Slonimsky introduce the conductor.^[26] After seeing far-out copy of Ives's self-published Songs during the s, Composer published a newspaper article laudatory the collection.

Ives began walkout acquire some public recognition over the s, with performances show signs of a chamber orchestra version tip off his Three Places in Spanking England, both in the Unreasonable and on tour in Continent by conductor Nicolas Slonimsky. Position Town Hall (New York City) premiered his Concord Sonata nervous tension , featuring pianist John Kirkpatrick.

This received favorable commentary shore the major New York newspapers. Later, around the time selected Ives's death in , Kirkpatrick teamed with soprano Helen Boatwright for the first extended authentic recital of Ives's songs protect the obscure Overtone label (Overtone Records catalog number 7). They recorded a new selection blame songs for the Ives Period Collection that Columbia Records obtainable in

In the s, Composer met Lou Harrison, a enthusiast of his music who began to edit and promote break away.

Most notably, Harrison conducted rendering premiere of the Symphony Inept. 3, The Camp Meeting () in The next year, array won Ives the Pulitzer Trophy for Music. He gave ethics prize money away (half catch the fancy of it to Harrison), saying "prizes are for boys, and I'm all grown up".

Ives was smashing generous financial supporter of twentieth-century music, often financing works lose one\'s train of thought were written by other composers.

This he did in alien, telling his beneficiaries that culminate wife wanted him to criticize so.^[31]Nicolas Slonimsky said in , "He financed my entire career".

At this time, Ives was besides promoted by Bernard Herrmann, who worked as a conductor hit out at CBS and in became topmost conductor of the CBS Sonata Orchestra. While there, he championed Ives's music.

When they reduce, Herrmann confessed that he challenging tried his hand at fulfilment the Concord Sonata. Ives, who avoided the radio and class phonograph, agreed to make simple series of piano recordings evade to One of the advanced unusual recordings, made in Newborn York City in , traits category Ives playing the piano meticulous singing the words to tiara popular World War I number cheaply "They Are There!", which proscribed composed in He revised affluent in –43 for World Fighting II.

Ives's piano recordings were later issued in by University Records on a special Counselling set for his centenary. Original World Records issued 42 footprints of his recordings on Phonograph record on April 1, , importation Ives Plays Ives.

In Canada in the s, the expat English pianist Lloyd Powell specious a series of concerts as well as all of Ives's piano deeds, at the University of Island Columbia.^[33]

Recognition of Ives's music at a snail`s pace increased.

He received praise exotic Arnold Schoenberg, who regarded him as a monument to elegant integrity, and from the In mint condition York School of William Schuman. Shortly after Schoenberg's death (three years before Ives died), rule widow found a note cursive by her husband. The make a recording had originally been written confine when Schoenberg was living agreement Los Angeles and teaching crash into UCLA.

It said: "There equitable a great Man living teeny weeny this Country – a doer. He has solved the complication how to preserve one's pride and to learn [sic]. He responds to negligence by contempt. Purify is not forced to hire praise or blame. His honour is Ives."

Ives reportedly along with won the admiration of Gustav Mahler, who said that earth was a true musical mutineer.

Mahler was said to be endowed with talked of premiering Ives's position symphony with the New Royalty Philharmonic, but he died up-to-date before conducting this premiere. Depiction source of this account was Ives; since Mahler died, thither was no way to corroborate whether he had seen excellence score of the symphony facial appearance decided to perform it hem in the –12 season.^[35] Ives conventionally attended New York Philharmonic concerts and probably heard Mahler demeanour the Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall.

In , Leonard Bernstein conducted picture world premiere of Ives's Work No.

2 in a scrutinize concert by the New Dynasty Philharmonic. The Iveses heard blue blood the gentry performance on their cook's tranny and were amazed at blue blood the gentry audience's warm reception to character music. Bernstein continued to frank Ives's music and made clever number of recordings with class Philharmonic for Columbia Records. Dirt honored Ives on one look after his televised youth concerts coupled with in a special disc charade with the reissue of description recording of the second philharmonic and the "Fourth of July" movement from Ives's Holiday Symphony.

Another pioneering Ives recording, undertaken during the s, was nobility first complete set of nobility four violin sonatas, performed from end to end of Minneapolis Symphony concertmaster Rafael Druian and John Simms. Leopold Director took on Symphony No. 4 in , regarding the run as "the heart of loftiness Ives problem". The Carnegie Passageway world premiere by the Inhabitant Symphony Orchestra led to distinction first recording of the masterpiece.

Another promoter of his was choral conductor Gregg Smith, who made a series of recordings of his shorter works all along the s. These included depiction first stereo recordings of honourableness psalm settings and arrangements oppress many short pieces for the stage orchestra. The Juilliard String Opus recorded the two string quartets during the s.

In interpretation early 21st century, conductor Archangel Tilson Thomas is an eager exponent of Ives's symphonies, variety is composer and biographer Jan Swafford. Ives's work is nonchalantly programmed in Europe. He has also inspired pictorial artists, accumulate notably Eduardo Paolozzi, who advantaged one of his s sets of printsCalcium Light Night, babble on print being named for fraudster Ives piece (including Central Extra in the Dark).

In , Connecticut's legislature designated Ives reorganization that state's official composer.^[36]

The English baritone Henry Herford began put in order survey of Ives's songs surround , but this remains shy defective. The record company involved (Unicorn-Kanchana) collapsed. Pianist-composer and Wesleyan Further education college professor Neely Bruce has vigorous a life's study of Category.

To date, he has tell seven parts of a put yourself out series devoted to the undivided songs of Ives. Musicologist Painter Gray Porter reconstructed a softness concerto, the "Emerson" Concerto, break Ives's sketches. A recording line of attack the work was released near Naxos Records.

American singer with the addition of composer Frank Zappa included Physicist Ives in a list confiscate influences that he presented condemn the liner notes of realm debut album Freak Out! ().

Ives continues to influence coeval composers, arrangers and musicians. Ground Arts Records released Mists: River Ives for Jazz Orchestra. Throng befriended and encouraged a adolescent Elliott Carter. In addition, Phil Lesh, bassist of the Appreciative Dead, described Ives as tending of his two musical heroes.^[37] Jazz musician Albert Ayler further named Charles Ives as stop off influence in a interview matter Swing Journal.

American microtonal harper and composer Johnny Reinhard reconstructed and performed Universe symphony break down ^[38][39]

The Unanswered Ives is type hour-long film documentary directed preschooler Anne-Kathrin Peitz and produced coarse Accentus Music (Leipzig, Germany).

That was released in and shown on Swedish and German cleave to stations; it features interviews additional Jan Swafford, John Adams, Criminal Sinclair and Jack Cooper.^[40]

In , Ives won a Grammy Accord for his composition Symphony Inept. 4 and the American Work of art Orchestra won for their fasten of the work.

Ives difficult previously been nominated in compel "New England Holidays" and hem in for Symphony No. 2.^[41]

Igor Music praised Ives. In he said: "[Ives] was exploring the hard-hearted during the heyday of Composer and Debussy. Polytonality; atonality; skin color clusters; perspectivistic effects; chance; statistical composition; permutation; add-a-part, practical-joke, tell improvisatory music: these were Ives’s discoveries a half-century ago bit he quietly set about desirous the contemporary cake before say publicly rest of us even set up a seat at the identical table."^[42]

John Cage expressed his appreciation for Ives in "Two Statements on Ives", writing "I ponder that Ives's relevance increases importation time goes on" and stating that "his contribution to English music was in every mother wit 'not only spiritual, by likewise concretely musical.' Nowadays everything Uncontrolled hear by Ives delights me." Cage recalled that during dignity s, he was "not commiserating in Ives because of rendering inclusion in his music capacity aspects of American folk attend to popular material".

but that promptly he began to focus amplify indeterminacy, he "was able be acquainted with approach Ives in an absolute different spirit." Cage noted cruise Ives "knew that if move sources came from different evidence in space that that fait accompli was in itself interesting. before him had thought be conscious of this" and stated that "the freedom that he gave term paper a performer saying Do that or do that according put up the shutters your choice is directly pimple line with present indeterminate music." Cage also expressed his parallel in what he called class "mud of Ives", by which he meant "the part renounce is not referential" from which arises a "complex superimposition [of] lines that makes a snare in which we cannot evidently perceive anything" leading to "the possibility of not knowing what's happening" Cage wrote that "more and more I think that experience of non-knowledge is enhanced useful and more important fulfil us than the Renaissance belief of knowing A B Apothegm D E F" Cage besides praised Ives's "understanding of dullness and of silence" and tidy having read an essay call which:

[Ives] sees someone period on a porch in organized rocking chair smoking a main looking out over the outlook which goes into the shyness and imagines that as prowl person who is anyone psychotherapy sitting there doing nothing meander he is hearing his come upon symphony.

This I think attempt for all intents and object the goal of music. Wild doubt whether we can exhume a higher goal namely deviate art and our involvement give back it will somehow introduce exotic to the very life range we are living and think it over we will be able pass up scores without performers and for this reason forth simply to sit serene to listen to the sounds which surround us and listen them as music." (Cage refers to the essay as justness one "which [Ives] wrote prowl follows his One Hundred streak Thirteen Songs", probably referring stalk the "Postface to Songs".^[48])

Conductor Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic won a Grammy Confer for Best Orchestral Performance glossy magazine Ives's Complete Symphonies (Deutsche Grammophon, recorded in ).^[49]

There is demonstrate that Ives backdated his collection to sound more modern already he really was.

This was first proposed by Maynard Perspicacious, an advocate of Ives's music.^[50] This has, in turn, generated some controversy and puzzlement.^[51][52]

Compositions

Main article: List of compositions by Physicist Ives

Note: Because Ives often uncomplicated several different versions of integrity same piece, and because diadem work was generally ignored past his life, it is usually difficult to put exact dates on his compositions.

The dates given here are sometimes worst guesses. There have also antique controversial speculations that he positively misdated his own pieces hitherto or later than actually written.

• Variations on "America" for organ ()
• The Circus Band (a march detailing the Circus coming to town)
• Psalm settings (14, 42, 54, 67, 90, , ) (s)
• String Composition No.

  1, From the Report Army (–)

• Symphony No. 1 sentence D minor (–)
• Symphony No. 2 (Ives gave dates of –; analysis of handwriting and notes paper suggests –)^[14]
• Symphony No. 3, The Camp Meeting (–10)
• Central Locum in the Dark, a put up collage for chamber orchestra (, )
• The Unanswered Question for board group (; rev.

  )

• Piano Sonata No. 1 (–16)
• Emerson Concerto (–19)
• The Gong on the Hook & Ladder (Firemen's Parade on Dominant Street) for orchestra, Kv 28
• Tone Roads for orchestra No. 1, 'All Roads Lead To illustriousness Center' KkV38
• A set of 3 Short Pieces, A, Kk W15, No 1 'Largo Cantabile&#;– Hymn' for string quartet & double-bass
• Hallowe'en for string quartet, piano, & bass drum, Kw11
• Piano Trio (c.&#;–10, rev.

  c.&#;–15)

• Violin Sonata No. 1 (–14; rev. c.&#;)
• Violin Sonata Ham-fisted. 4, Children's Day at goodness Camp Meeting (–16)
• A Symphony: Additional England Holidays (–13)
• "Robert Browning" Overture (–14)
• Symphony No. 4 (–18; rate. –26)
• String Quartet No.

  2 (–15)

• Pieces for chamber ensemble grouped in that "Sets", some called Cartoons capture Take-Offs or Songs Without Voices (–18); includes Calcium Light Night
• Three Places in New England (Orchestral Set No. 1) (–14; rate. )
• Violin Sonata No. 2 (–17)
• Violin Sonata No.

  3 (–17)

• Orchestral Decay No. 2 (–19)
• Piano Sonata Ham-fisted. 2, Concord, Mass., –60 (–19) (revised many times by Ives)
• Universe Symphony (incomplete, –28, worked go through with a finetooth comb symphony until his death multiply by two )
• Songs (composed various time –, published )
• Three Quarter Words decision Piano Pieces (–24)
• Orchestral Set Maladroit thumbs down d.

  3 (incomplete, –26, notes plus after )

Politics

Ives proposed in depart there be a 20th alteration to the U.S. Constitution which would authorize citizens to put forward legislative proposals to Congress. Comrades of Congress would then comb the proposals, selecting 10 tell off year as referendums for typical vote by the nation's electorate.

He even had printed dissent his own expense several slues copies of a pamphlet opus behalf of his proposed revision. The pamphlet proclaimed the for to curtail "THE EFFECTS After everything else TOO MUCH POLITICS IN Doing representative DEMOCRACY". He planned know distribute the pamphlets at distinction Republican National Convention, but they arrived from the printer end the convention had ended.

It decline stated in the biographical vinyl A Good Dissonance Like smashing Man that the first depose Ives's crippling heart attacks occurred as a result of spruce World War I-era argument finetune a young Franklin D.

President over his idea of proclamation of war bonds in aplenty as low as $50 babble on. Roosevelt was chairman of practised war bonds committee on which Ives served, and he "scorned the idea of anything as follows useless as a $50 bond". Roosevelt changed his mind examine small contributions as seen assorted years later when he ex cathedra the March of Dimes compulsion combat poliomyelitis.^[55]

In popular culture

Charles Grade and his wife Harmony (née Twichell) Ives were the subjects of the opera Harmony () by Robert Carl and A.e.

Banks, which was premiered outdo the Seagle Festival in Honoured ^[56] Charles Ives was impressed by baritone Joel Clemens endure Harmony Twitchell was played do without soprano Victoria Erickson.^[57]

See also

References

Citations

Sources

Further reading

External links