Evening star., 1958-07-06
MUSIC

in your review Of May s. !
have prepared this brief note
in an attempt to expose the
fallaciousness Of these ideas
and so bury them. The first
notion I. should like to lay to
rest is Ives "dilettantism."
Charles Ives was about as
thoroughly educated q musi-
clan as any American COM
poser. He began studying
music with his father George
Ives, a topnotch bandsman
and imaginative musical ex-
perimenter (who, incident
ally, insisted that Charlie
learn the rules first, before
he began to experiment. so
he would know what he was
doing1, and other local musi-
clans In Danbury, Conn, and
ct the age Of II was the
youngest church organist In
the State Of Connecticut.
He had also by this time
mastered q number of other
instruments plus theory, har-
mony and counterpoint. Upon
completing his secondary
schooling he went to Yale
where he studied with Hor-
alto Parker. After gradua-
ton he decided to 60 into
business to support himself
and devote his spare time to
composition.
He chose the insurance
business because he felt he
could be of greatest service
to mankind thereby. He was
so successful in business that
he could have retired a mil
lionaire. Instead he took only
what he felt was his fair share
of the Nations wealth (ar-
rived at by dividing the
population into the gross ma
tional product) into retire.
ment with him. This does not
take him from the ranks Of
professional composers any
more than most American
composers who earn their
living performing or teaching
music. So much for that.
You mentioned first a lack
Of brilliance in his orchestra
tfon. This is true in the sense
that he does not resort to the
sickness and trickery that
characterizes so much con-
temporary orchestral writing
(often to hide a lack of musi-
cal substance). Nevertheless.
his orchestration is solid and
knowledgeable. He knows the
capabilities of his instruments
and obtains Just the right ef-
feet to convey his musical
thought. He conceived of the
orchestra as a means of con-
veying his musical ideas. not
as an end to itself. Except in
such early works as the Sec
ond Symphony (scored for
full orchestral and such later.
visionary projects as the
Fourth Symphony and the
Universe" Symphony (un-
finished, considered unf1niSh-
able by the composer, and
at any rate completely un-
performable), he adopted a
very flexible orchestration,
writing either simply for
small orchestra Gas in the
Third Symphony or for a
baSically small orchestra
which could be expanded at
the conductors discretion by
adoption of the "ossias" Ives
provided. such as an alternate
chord "if there be four
horns" c"Three Places in New
England"). Ives was not. ex-
cept in the instances men,
toned above, a wild-eyed
visionary, writing only for
posterity. but an intensely
practical man who wrote as
the spirit moved him but
tailored it to fit the perform
ing groups he had at his
disposal. He often took his
pieces to one of the local
theaters or night club orches-
tras where they would read
through it after hours or late
in the evenings (more likely
early in the morning) when
the patrons were too inebri-
ated to notice. Sometimes he
also hired professional musi-
clans from the New York
Philharmonic to come to his
home for a try-out session.
These he did not consider too
successful, and so did not do
1t very often. He always felt
the theatre and night club
musicians did better by his
music.
Although at first hearing
1t may seem that the hymn
tunes and other popular
melodies Ives uses in his in
strumental music are mot an
integral part of the music,
but pasted on like a sardonic.
whimsical, humorous or nos
talgic picture out of a photo
graphic album" Ito quote
the review, an investigation
of the scores will show the
reverse to be true in most
cases.
The tunes are an integral
part of the music either from
a programmatic standpoint
or. more commonly. as q part
Of the musical fabric itself.
Indeed. in this respect Ives
displays a sense Of melodic
development almost without
peer in the annals Of serious
music.
To take these melodies.
for all practical purposes
complete in themselves. and
rear upon them such archi-
tectonic monuments as Ives
did reollireS n musical irnaei.