INSTRUCTOR’S MANUALCHAPTER 31THREE AMERICAN VOICESCOMPOSERS AND COMPOSITIONSIVESA. Historical BackgroundLike most precocious youths, Charles Ives was an active adolescent. Having studied music for years with his father, he began taking organ lessons at the age of eleven and by the time he was fourteen, he was the regular organist at the Second Congregational Church in his hometown of Danbury Connecticut. Ives was not only musically inclined, but also quite an athlete. At the age of fifteen, he discovered the new game of football and quickly became the captain of his high school team and its star player—in one game scoring fourteen touchdowns. It seems like he had time for just about everything except his studies, and he went from receiving accolades as an honor student to barely scraping by (Burkholder, Tunes, 39; Swafford, 58).As a young musician, Charlie (as his family and friends called him) made a practice of collecting musical scores as well as studying compositions and performing organ recitals.During these concerts, he played works in theme and variations form by a number of composers. Therefore, it was natural for him to turn to this familiar musical form when he composed Variations on America in either 1891 or early 1892. Scholars have noted that Ives based each of the variations on highly reputable models that he had studied and performed. This composition was not a tongue-in-cheek tweak at the patriotic sensibilities of his neighbors, but represented the best compositional efforts he could achieve at the age of seventeen (Burkholder, Tunes, 22; Swafford, 64).Ives first played the composition as part of an organ recital he gave in the near-by town ofBrewster, New York, on February 17, 1891. He did not play the composition in the manner we are accustomed to hear it today. His father would not allow Charles to play the polonaise (Variation 4) because he thought it too European for his American audience.Charles had also composed an interlude that had a canon in three different keys, but his father nixed that as well, saying it would make “the boys laugh out loud and get noisy” (Swafford, 64; Cowell, 29). The next recorded performance of Variations occurred more than fifty years later, on a radio concert given by the famous American organist, E. PowerBiggs. It was not until 1949, when Ives was seventy-five years old, that his most famous composition finally appeared in print (Swafford, 425).B. MusicIves based the introduction on various motives derived from the tune. Some of the melodic gestures, such as the opening phrase, are merely rhythmic alterations of the tune,while others are more complicated and hidden (Burkholder, Tunes, 21, 44-46). While audiences today often consider this composition as a satirical slant on a patriotic tune, Ives did not regard it in that light. For him, this unofficial national anthem of the United States was imbued with an honest patriotism and was worthy of respectful treatment (Swafford, 64). The first two variations are similar in style to the variations Ives studied. Even Variation 3, which to us seems the most jocular of the set, can be understood as imitating the sound of a circus calliope. In many of his later composition, he demonstrates an interest in replicating his impressions of music he heard in everyday society. This may very well be an early manifestation: an attempt to reproduce a commonly heard—if unorthodox—rendition of the melody that would have reminded his listeners of county fairs. While we might wonder why the composer would set the fourth variation of this tune in the manner of a Polish dance (the polonaise), many of the variation compositions Ives had performed included such a setting, so for him it was a natural choice (Burkholder, Tunes, 21-22). Even the choice of keys used in the bi-tonal interludes is not a matter of happenstance. In each case, the keys combine those of the preceding and forthcoming variation. The first audience in Brewster, New York did not hear these shocking passages, however. Ives left the score blank and only inked them into the manuscript in 1902 (Burkholder, Tunes, 432, n. 25). The tempo for the fifth variation is marked “as fast as the pedals can go.” He evidently enjoyed this section, saying that performing it was “almost as fun as baseball” (Swafford, 63).COPLANDPerhaps the most surprising aspect about the creation of this icon of American music is that Copland did not know what its title was to be until the night before the first performance. Commissioned by the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation in 1943, Martha Graham was to provide the choreography (and select the topic) while Copland was awarded a fee of $500 to compose the work. (The Boston Symphony offered Bartók twice the amount for his Concerto for Orchestra in the same year.) While working on theproject, Copland simply used the title Ballet for Martha. Martha Graham derived the titlefrom a poem by Hart Crane, a poem that has nothing to do with the subject matter of the ballet. She just liked the image suggested by the words. The premiere was a great success. Copland arranged the current suite in 1948. In addition to deleting a few sections where the interest was primarily choreographic, he expanded the thirteen-piece ensemble to a full orchestra. The composer received a Pulitzer Prize for this compositionin 1945 and the New York Times placed the announcement on the front page, right under the banner headline proclaiming the unconditional surrender of Germany (Copland, 33-46).The famous tune, entitled Simple Gifts, originated during a spiritual revival among the Shakers that occurred during the 1840s. It soon became a popular melody among members of the sect. While credit for its composition is uncertain, it is probably the work of one member of the group, Elder Joseph Brackett. Brackett’s peers noted that he possessed a natural singing ability and power to fill his listeners with spiritual enthusiasmand fervor. This song would have been sung while dancing and early manuscripts identify it as a “Quick Dance.” One Shaker recalled “seeing him [Elder Brackett] sing it in a meeting room, turning about with his coat tails a-flying” (Patterson, 316-317, 372-372, 413). The current popularity of this tune is a result of Appalachian Spring. When Copland turned to Simple Gifts in 1943, it was not generally known. He found the tune ina collection of Shaker songs