Piano Sonata No. 2 (Ives)
The second piano sonata (original title: Piano Sonata No. 2, Concord, Mass, 1840-60. ; Often short Concord Sonata ) of the American composer Charles Ives (1874-1954) takes its subtitle relation to the city Concord to At that time, the center of American transcendentalism , and in the individual sentence titles reference to specific representatives of this philosophical current.
Creation, publication and world premiere
As with many of Charles Ives' works, the timing of his 2nd piano sonata is difficult to fix. It was created mainly between 1911 and 1915 and was given its final form between around 1916 and 1919, but it uses older musical material, some of which go back to 1904. In 1920 the sonata was published by G. Schirmer as a private print. In 1947 a second version, revised by Ives, was printed by Arrow Music Press (unaltered reprint in 1957 by Associated Music Publishers ).
After individual movements had already been performed in the 1920s, the complete sonata was performed for the first time on November 28, 1938 in Cos Cob ( Connecticut ) by the pianist John Kirkpatrick in a semi-public concert. On January 20, 1939, Kirkpatrick played the sonata for the first time in New York City .
In 1996 Henry Brant created an orchestral version ("Concord Symphony").
Background and characterization
Charles Ives put his thoughts on the composition in "Essays before a Sonata", an extensive written commentary. A footnote to the introduction says: “These prefatory essays were written by the composer for those who can't stand his music - and the music for those who can't stand his essays; to those who can't stand either, the whole is respectfully dedicated. ”(“ These introductory essays were written by the composer for those who cannot do anything with his music, and the music for those who cannot do anything with his essays; The whole thing is devotedly dedicated to those who cannot do anything with either. ")
The subtitle of the sonata "Concord, Mass., 1840-60" refers to the programmatic nature of the work. At that time, the small town of Concord was a cultural center of the USA, where philosophers and writers met, especially representatives of transcendentalism , which Ives dealt intensively with. Each of the four movements of the work, also known as the “Concord Sonata” for short, relates to specific people: Ralph Waldo Emerson , Nathaniel Hawthorne , Amos Bronson Alcott with his daughter Louisa May Alcott and Henry David Thoreau .
Accordingly, Ives writes in the introduction to his “Essays”: “[…] The whole is an attempt to present [one person's] impression of the spirit of transcendentalism that is associated in the minds of many with Concord, Mass., Of over a half century ago. This is undertaken in impressionistic pictures of Emerson and Thoreau, a sketch of the Alcotts, and a Scherzo supposed to reflect a lighter quality which is often found in the fantastic side of Hawthorne [...]. "(" [...] The whole is a Attempt to present the impression (of a person) of the spirit of transcendentalism, which in the minds of many has been associated with Concord, Mass., For over half a century Scherzo of a lighter character, which reflects the often fantastic side of Hawthorne. ")
The work is in four movements and has a playing time of approximately 45 minutes. As is typical of Ives' late work, performers and listeners are confronted with complex structures, poly- and atonality and overlapping rhythms and meters. Larger sections are notated without bars. In his collage-like compositional process, Ives also makes use of interspersed musical quotations; the opening motif of Ludwig van Beethoven's 5th symphony appears in all four movements , and the first two bars of his hammer piano sonata are less clearly audible . There are also others such as the patriotic song Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean in the 2nd movement, or Loch Lomond and the wedding march from Lohengrin in the 3rd movement. Clusters that are composed in the 2nd movement are to be created using a wooden board, the exact size of which (14 ¾ inches ) Ives notes in the score. Another characteristic of the composition is the fact that Ives also provides a viola or flute for the 1st and 4th movements ad libitum - each only for a few bars. The movement titles and starting tempos are:
- I. Emerson , Slowly
- II. Hawthorne , Very Fast
- III. The Alcotts , Moderately
- IV. Thoreau , Starting slowly and quietly
For the first movement “Emerson”, the longest movement of the sonata, Ives wrote in his essays: “We see him standing on a summit, at the door of the infinite where many men do not care to climb, peering into the mysteries of life […]. ”(“ We see him standing on a summit, on the threshold of infinity, where many do not dare to ascend, spying out the secrets of life […]. ”) The viola that appears for 2 bars is possibly a relic an unfinished piano concerto "Emerson", which has found its way into the movement musically.
The 2nd movement “Hawthorne” should, according to Ives, “[…] suggest some of his wilder, fantastical adventures into the half-childlike, half-fairylike phantasmal realms.” (“[...] some of the wild, fantastic adventures [Hawthornes] in Describing the realm of the half-child, the half-fairy tale. ”) New pianistic requirements such as clusters over two octaves characterize the movement.
For the third movement “Alcotts” Ives says “Here is the home of the 'Marches' - all pervaded with the trials and happiness of the family and telling, in a simple way, the story of 'the richness of not having' . "(" Here is the home of the 'marches' - imbued with happiness and the trials of the family - which tells in a simple way of the 'riches of not possessing'. ") The movement is the shortest of the work and musically stands out rather than its own idyllic character and subdued tonal complexity from the other movements. Scottish songs and religious hymns are quoted.
For the 4th sentence “Thoreau” Ives writes: “If there shall be a program let it follow his thought on an autumn day of Indian summer at Walden…” (“If there has to be a program, it should follow his thoughts, those he does lingering on an autumn day in Walden… ”) The flute, which unexpectedly accompanies a few bars, paints“ the poet's flute… heard out over the pond ”(“ the poet's flute heard across the pond. ”)
Individual evidence
literature
- Christoph Rüger (Ed.): Piano Music AZ . VEB Deutscher Verlag für Musik, Leipzig, 3rd edition 1988, ISBN 3-370-00146-2 , pp. 381–384.
- LP text by Everett Helm to: Charles Ives: Sonata for Piano No. 2, Herbert Henck (piano), Wergo 60080, 1978.