3rd symphony (Ives)

The 3rd Symphony by the American composer Charles Ives (1874–1954), subtitled " The Camp Meeting, " was composed largely between 1901 and 1904. However, it was not premiered until 1946, and the following year Ives was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for the work for Music awarded.

Origin and premiere

Charles Ives was the organist of the Central Presbyterian Church in New York from 1899 to 1902 . Around 1901 he designed his 3rd symphony , the musical material of which is based on hymns and his own liturgical organ pieces. The subtitle of the work " The Camp Meeting " refers to musical memories Ives' of evangelical camp meetings in his childhood in Danbury . The score was compiled around 1904 and revised again between 1908 and 1911. Charles Ives later reported that Gustav Mahler had seen the score in the copy-making office and had requested a copy.

Charles Ives' 3rd Symphony was first performed on April 5, 1946 in New York's Carnegie Chamber Hall with the New York Little Symphony conducted by Lou Harrison . In 1947 the work was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music. The composer, who was 73 years old at the time of the award ceremony, told a visitor who wanted to congratulate him that prizes were “ the badge of mediocrity ” and gave away the prize money, half of which went to Lou Harrison.

Occupation and structure

The score calls for a chamber orchestra with the following scoring: flute , oboe , clarinet , bassoon , 2 horns , trombone , tubular bells and strings .

The performance lasts about 20 to 25 minutes. The three movements of the symphony are headed as follows:

Old Folks Gatherin ' - Andante maestoso
Children's Day - Allegro
Communion - Largo

The symphony predominantly uses tonal and formal elements of European tradition, which are merged with quotations from American hymns (sometimes also changed) (in particular Azmon , Erie , Cleansing Fountain , Happy Land and Woodworth ). A regular fugue sounds in the first movement . It is only in the third movement that the chromatic gradients, dissonant layers and complex meters characteristic of the later Ives come to light. In the first and third movements (both use the same basic material in some cases), melodic fragments are presented first, complete themes only sound at the end of the movement.

Frames

As with many of Ives' works, the definition of a “definitive” version proves to be problematic in his 3rd symphony . After a first edition by Lou Harrison, a new score version by Henry Cowell was created in 1964 , and in 1990 Kenneth Singleton presented a version that deviated significantly from it. This takes into account passages initially planned, later deleted, referred to by Ives as “ shadow lines ”, some of which are strongly dissonant, soloistic and consistently soft accompaniments to the main melodic lines. All three versions were published by Associated Music Publishers, New York.

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ John Kirkpatrick (Ed.): Charles E. Ives. Memos . New York, WW Norton, 1972, p. 121
↑ James Peter Burkholder (Ed.): Charles Ives and his world . Princeton NJ, Princeton University Press, 1996, p. 409, ISBN 978-0-691-01163-9

[1] John Kirkpatrick (Ed.): Charles E. Ives. Memos . New York, WW Norton, 1972, p. 121

[2] James Peter Burkholder (Ed.): Charles Ives and his world . Princeton NJ, Princeton University Press, 1996, p. 409, ISBN 978-0-691-01163-9