SIGNATURES FROM AMERICAN COMPOSERS

Transcription

1 SIGNATURES FROM AMERICAN COMPOSERS Nate Andersen IVES SEMINAR American composers revolutionized the music of society. We al have heard of the many famous composers of Europe, composers who drove the music of the church, and those who would take their talents to America and partake in the mixing of cultures that would create styles, pieces, and works that would evolve as the decades passed. This kind of evolution in music is still seen today. There are many times when a person may voice a disliking in classical, country or jazz styles. But the fact of the matter is that these styles have a direct link to their favorite contemporary American styles. Many of the great American composers also released their music qualities into society that would directly impact other musicians and their qualities. Some of which would go on to lead extremely successful careers. Like the passing down of cultural traditions, many composers (those who choose to) learn the styles of these composers and take them on and combine them with their own musical genius. It is interesting to view the unique qualities of some of the greatest that take the great honor of being remembered as the original American composers. HISTORY: During this semester, we have studied the brilliance of the composer known as Charles Ives. WE also have spent quite a bit of time learning about composers who took direct influence and similarities to Ives. These second generation Ivesians would provided much to think about over the course of the semester. The one composer

2 however, that I think links up in almost a perfect musical sphere with the great Charles Ives would be the musical talents of Aaron Copland. Although comparing the different styles of musicians is always interesting to investigate, it is also important to look at the histories of these composers in order to see where the talents arose. First we will look at the history of Charles Ives. Born on October , Charles Ives was the son of George Ives, who was a bandleader during the American Civil War. So right off the bat, there is a grand presence of music in the Ives family. It is also important to realize that the music that arose from the American Civil War was very special and respected by the population. Probably the most famous bandleader to arise out of the carnage of the Civil War would be John Phillip Sousa, who always has been known for his famous marches and patriotic music. George, when compared to Sousa, seems much more of an overlooked musician, but nevertheless, was still extremely educated and talented. Charles took much musical interest from listening to his father s marching band in the Danbury Town Square. History has shown that being exposed to music at an early age often results in much musical talent that arises from the individual. And to add to this, George did play a very important role in tutoring his son and constantly encouraging him to experiment with polyrhythms, and different harmonies. Supporting Ives future, there couldn t be a better tutor then his own father who taught him all of his theory, and furthermore, this allowed Ives to develop theories and experimentations of his own. Through his father, Charles learned the music of Steven Foster, and later at the age of 14, became a church organist, where he would leave a significant mark on the religious and sacred music realm. For each church service, Charles would write hymns and other songs for the services. Some

3 would remain in the hymnal books that are currently in the modern day hymnal collections. Ives would then, in 1891, write one of his most esteemed pieces; Variations of America made a lasting impression on Ives career. Ives was trained at Yale by Horatio Parker, who was his compositional instructor at Yale. Ives wrote his first symphony while studying at Yale, which took on the techniques of the older European style of music. His second symphony however, which was composed after his studies, consisted of a newly developed technique called, musical quotation. This is the act of taking a phrase from a certain tune (usually from a popular piece) and making a variation off of it of the composer s style. Ives would find that this technique worked especially well with his style of writing. A master at choral writing, hymnal compositions, and a professional organist and pianist, Ives was bound for success as an original American composer. Ives compositional style, was extremely intriguing, and often referred to as harsh to the listening ear. Although he was often criticized for misusing sacred music, and often called a quack, Ives never strayed from his style. At the end of his second symphony, he would use an extreme 11-note chord, which was extremely dissonant. Other such uses of his dissonance would include, many overtone chord techniques, where Ives would stack the overtones of specific notes on top of each other, and play them at once. Ives also practiced, the use of transposition of melodies to different keys and played them against what many would call a non-matching chordal structure. His use of time was also interesting in that a huge amount of Ives compositions would not contain a fully supported and mainstream time signature. Some would consider Ives to be messing

4 around and composing pieces that would seem like nothing more than a 2 year old banging on a piano at times. Ives knew exactly what he was doing. His development in the musical realm overtook most listeners, and traveled into areas that many musicians never even came close to thinking of. However, there were pieces that touched the soul of the common listener. Pieces such as his Double Chorus A Capella, Chorale Finale, and many others please the classical realm. His Central Park in the Dark composition however, was considered radical music and wasn t accepted by many. Nonetheless, Ives would continue revolutionizing American music to the fullest. In 1922 he published his 114 Songs, which was one of his most famous works. Unfortunately as Ives grew older, his compositions started to decline, and his musical output, came to a halt. His later years were very depressing as Ives felt that nothing that he wrote sounded right to him. His health would also decline with his compositions, and the mystery behind his sudden cease of music would be carried with him until his death in Aaron Copland was born on November in Brooklyn New York. Although he was born in an environment filled with entertainment and much musical culture, Aaron Copland s career started much differently from that of Charles Ives. Right off the bat, Copland wasn t considered much of a musical genius by any means. His parents didn t have as great of an impact as George Ives did on Charles. IN fact, Copland wouldn t fully take on an interest in music until his early teen years. Copland received musical training from Leopold Wolfsohn, and Rubin Goldmark. Goldmark was renowned

5 for teaching such musical composers as George Gershwin. Needless to say, Copland was in good hands, at the time. Copland wanted to write music that was described by one source, American in character. And this central goal of Copland would be seen through as he wrote pieces such as the Piano Variations and the Short Symphony in As his music years progressed, Copland would find himself in the field of common folk, revival hymns and sacred music during Americas Great Depression. Copland also contributed immensely to the film industry becoming a great composer of film scores, some of which received Academy Awards. Leonard Bernstein also influenced Copland, as they were close friends. Copland would continue writing numerous and extraordinary pieces throughout his years. Like Ives, Copland used much tension in his works that wasn t often considered, ear friendly. But Copland always found a way in which these dissonances made sense in the overall composition. Copland would continue his domination of American music through the 50 s and 60 s. The FBI investigated Copland, on a side note, during America s red scare, because he stood up for the Communist Party USA during the 50 s. These comments were made almost twenty years prior to his investigation. Later he would testify in front of congress claiming that he was in fact, not a communist. This was a very ironic development due to Copland s recognition as a great American composer. The musical society stood up for Copland because of his renowned works, and was outraged on the fact that he was even considered possibly, a communist. The investigations would discontinue and would officially close almost two decades later.

6 Copland would continue to write, perform, compose, and instruct until he died in 1990 at the age of 100. His long and fascinating life, contributed much to the American music realm. The country is ever so lucky to have such a genius living and contributing for all those years. MUSICAL SELECTIONS: The music that these two great composers created is the remaining evidence of their influence on American music. In reality, one must listen to multiple works of these men, in order to have a good grasp on their talents and styles. However, we will be looking at two particular pieces, one from Charles Ives and one from Aaron Copland. The goal here is to compare the styles of these two musicians and how Aaron Copland s musical talents are directly influenced by those of Charles Ives. IVES: A perfect piece to better understand Ives style and motivation for his tunes would be the piece, General William Booth Enters Into Heaven. This tune is very heavy in both piano arrangement and in vocal tone. An average listener would start off by noticing that the melody from the baritone doesn t line up with the arrangement of the piano. But in fact, everything that you hear in this piece, was written, and meant to be. The score starts off with a minor 2 nd between D and C# and then jumping down to a low A. This creates a very harsh amount of tension on the ear but, after playing these chords, he then resolves it in the most fascinating of ways. He then moves the phrase up by playing a G# and an A

7 over a C bass note. If you break this down into their proper chord tones (in retrospect with that the key is that of the bass note) the tones that are played are the 1, #4 and 5 tones. Already you have a tri-tone build up that is stretched over the piano rather than clustered closely together. Really what resolves this is not the tonality change, but the dynamic change. The baritone comes in against the first chord, which is being played very loud, and then the choral phrase, Are you washed in the blood of the lamb, is where the piano accompaniment drops down to a soft piano. That phrase by the way is repeated many times throughout the piece, many times against a different piano phrase. The best label that you can think of for this phrase is that it is in fact, the chorus of the piece. No other part of the song is repeated and it is interesting to hear that the chorus is developed and altered so many times and above all else, the way in which it is altered. Ives also does something in this piece that he often does with other tunes. He is including the melody sung by the baritone, and surrounds it with other notes, almost like camouflaging the vocal melody within the piano arrangement. The original tri-tonic chord played at the beginning of the tune is elaborated and tweaked at some points. Sometimes this chord will resolve into a beautiful, floating chord that is played up against the vocal line. One example of such a floating chord would be the one played 1 minute and 40 seconds into the piece. This chord has a bass note of A, and then jumps up and plays an F# M7 chord above it, pedaling the A through so that there is a very interesting cocktail of notes during this part of the piece. To add further, the dynamic level at this time, gradually decrescendos to a pianissimo, over the vocal chorus line. It is just absolutely fascinating. The tempo slows, and then silence. Then the speed picks up and a very interesting thing happens. Ives decides to take the interval of a minor 7 th and

8 play the notes together and move the chord up and down the whole tone scale, which provides two points of view on where the scale is starting and finishing. The vocal arrangement however, is now written along the alternate whole-tone scale, and when played with the following piano line, provides the listener with a jumble of undefined melodies. The tune gradually grows to a climax, which lasts longer than most climaxes in other tunes. Ives is able to stretch the climax by accelerating the volume and then suddenly dropping it down to a piano only for a minute, and then driving the volume back up again. This combined with the ever-changing form of the piano and vocal arrangements, give the piece drive and a sense of direction. Then finally the volume drops and the vocal line floats above the soft piano line for about a minute. Silence follows, followed by the introduction chord structure containing the ever present tri-tone. A slight build similar to the beginning of the piece, but of course not the same, takes place, and then finally Ives decides to end the composition by having the voice float once again on top of the piano line. Then, as if the piece is ready to start back up again (with the exact same chord form and rhythm as the beginning), Ives gives a transposed version of the beginning chord. It is played very softly in a similar rhythm, and then slowly diminishes out into silence. The best thing about this piece is that it almost creates an illustration in your mind on what is taking place. Furthermore, the vocal lyrics are not just poetic, but are also telling a story as well. As the story progresses, you get an urge to visualize the entire scene in your mind. This form of musical illustration is found all over in Ives music, along with his popular use of the tri-tone. Ives revolutionized the musical realm in which

9 weird became fun, and exotic, became normal. Remember that for much of his early life, he was a church organist, writing hymns. Imagine how his music was received during the religious sessions in the early years of his writing. Eventually, and some argue that it was after his death was when Ives music was more accepted and he was taken for a genius rather than a crazy old man banging on a piano. The public might not have been aware, but his signatures in music, would be used in many other composers forms as the 20 th century continued. Copland: One of the most picture perfect examples of the characteristics of Copland s music would be his composition, Billy the Kid. This tune contains over a half hour of Copland s genius. The tune starts off with a clarinet playing a simple three note phrase. The trombone then follows the clarinet a fifth lower, creating a very stylish harmony. The overall mode in the beginning of the piece is soft spoken, with very few instruments playing in the opening. About a minute and fifteen seconds in, there is a great use of melody and underlying structure that Copland uses. He has the orchestra droning on a low C as the flute and clarinets play a G major triad above it. This approach is also found throughout many of Ives compositions, and demonstrates the similar characteristics that are found just within the first couple of minutes of Copland s music. The G major triad phrase is often repeated through the opening minutes of the piece. The strings are used very creatively by being plucked in the opening minutes rather than bowed. The use of trumpets and the percussion takes on the style of a military march or feeling, as if there

10 are soldiers marching through the field on edge. The booming forte that follows still uses the G triad over C as the main phrase, that is developed often at times, with great, tense harmonies. The orchestra then falls silent, and then shoots into a double time feeling, slowly picking up tempo. There is much call and response used in this area, between the clarinetist trumpet, and the flute. The strings then pick up the tempo even more, and eventually grow in climax, and volume, then falls silent, and then comes booming out into a western music type feeling. Copland s use of cowboy style in his writings is clearly seen at this point, as the cut time feeling combined with the click-clops from the percussion, portrays the illustration of a cowboy, riding his horse into a western town for the first time. The piece feels like its relaying the sense of American culture, in that the clashing melodies and styles that Copland uses in this piece, can be easily identified as the mixing of cultures. Some styles are easily recognized such as a five note phrase resembling a East Asian feeling combined with the same cowboy rhythm, separated by a tri-tone really puts Copland s use of tension, to work. IT is just fascinating. Copland relays a sense of a minor feeling throughout much of the piece, possibly resembling the illustration of the man whom the piece is named after. Remember that Billy the Kid was a very famous cowboy. Him and his band of robbers, and of course his famous ending at the O K Choral, is easily found in many sections of this piece. One interesting part of Copland s composition, is found at the 16:40 mark, where the strings build up all in unison, rising in volume and intensity leading into a very dramatic percussion section. The time signature of this section is all of a sudden uneven, illustrating a possible conflict between two western cowboys (maybe even Billy the Kid).

11 The percussion instruments are also tuned to the low horn players in that the horns are also playing the same tones and rhythms as the percussions. The strings combined with the underlying mallet line further tenses up the feeling of a violent conflict that is about to arise. The popular chord use at this time is a minor third with a tri-tone above creating a sense of urgency. This chord is also found in much of Ives music. All of a sudden, the drums cease, the tensions stops, and the original cowboy feeling returns. Still, Copland s use of the tri-tone is found almost everywhere you turn. The great part about Copland s music is that you can always illustrate in your mind, the story behind the music. The theory that Copland s title with this composition, and the focus on illustration, is not very farfetched. The images of cowboys, duels, and even women and romance can be easily identified throughout this piece. Even at the end of the piece, the horns give way to a heroic exit from the Wild West and even brings back the original theme of the clarinet triad, and continues to intertwine it with the ending of the piece. It is almost just like a western town, one road in and one road out. All in all, after comparing histories and musical compositions, the evidence of Ives musical genius that is found within Aaron Copland s own musical talents is substantial. Music is always influential in that everyone has something to gain from the pieces they listen to. Without the talents of other musicians, many great composers wouldn t have any music to be influenced by. Imagine the classical world without Mozart. Would there even BE a classical world that would resemble the classical music that we know of today? The mixing of cultures is what built the foundations of American music. Imagine what some music would sound like if one culture were absent. I doubt

12 that we would have such a thing as jazz without the African Americans and Congo Square. Needless to say, we need every composer that we receive. Everyone will hear music that is formed today and everyone will have something to take from it. Just as Copland had something to take from Charles Ives. And this information is supposed to be taken, and used to help form ones own creative talents. And in the future, this talent will once again be passed down to the next, and on into the future.

13 BIBLIOGRAPHY Copland, Aaron. Billy the Kid CD recording: Sonoma State University Library Ives, Charles. A Song for Anything CD collection: Sonoma State University Library Ives, Charles. The Celestial Country CD recording: (Personal) Pollack, Howard. Aaron Copland: The Life and Work of an Uncommon Man New York: Henry Holt, Swafford, Jan. Charles Ives: A Life Without Music New York : W.W. Norton, c1996.