Listening to Charles Ives
Variations on His America
Abstract
Charles Ives is widely regarded as the first great American composer of classical music. But listening to his music is an adventure—hearing how a piece begins may not prepare you for what comes next, or how it ends. Knowing one Ives piece may not prepare you for another.
Award-winning music historian J. Peter Burkholder provides an introduction to the composer’s diverse musical output and unusual career to readers of any background, discussing about forty of the best and most characteristic pieces framed with biographical sketches. Burkholder shows how Ives mastered each tradition he encountered, from American popular music to classical European genres, from Protestant church music to his own unique experimental idiom, and then interwove elements from all these traditions in the astonishing works of his maturity. Listening to Charles Ives contains compelling walkthroughs of select pieces and ultimately reveals that there is an Ives piece for everyone.
Schlagworte
Music Appreciation Music Criticism Music History New England Patriotic Modern Music Songs Symphony Thoreau Tradition Transcendentalism Repertoire Tunes Unanswered Question Choral Music Insurance Band Music 20th Century Biography Classical Music Composers Concord Sonata Henry Cowell Chamber Music Holiday Symphony America American Composers American Culture- 1–6 Introduction 1–6
- 49–74 3. Apprenticeship 49–74
- 101–124 5. Seeking and Finding 101–124
- 145–172 7. A New Form 145–172
- 173–194 8. American Holidays 173–194
- 195–216 9. American Histories 195–216
- 217–248 10. American Literature 217–248
- 287–292 Epilogue 287–292
- 293–312 Notes 293–312
- 313–316 Selected Reading 313–316
- 317–322 Selected Listening 317–322
- 327–346 General Index 327–346
- 347–348 About the Author 347–348