20/21th Century

Charles Ives (1874-1954) was born in Danbury, CT, studied organ and composition in New York, but got employed as insurance agent, a job in which he was quite successful. Composing became an activity for his spare time. Because his income did not depend on his musical activities, he was able to do whatever he liked. That he did, indeed. In fact, he did that so fanatically that contemporary musicians and composers could not (or did not want to) really understand what he was doing.

Charles Ives

Charles was surrounded with musical originality from his earliest youth. His father showed an unrestrained interest in all kinds of musical experiments. For example, what do you hear if you let two brass bands march towards each other while they are playing different music and you take position in the middle of them? Or, what happens if you accompany a song in another key than the singer is singing in? In both cases, existing material is used to make something that is both unexpected and new. Exactly this is a main theme in the work of Charles. Did you ever hear such a diversity within half a minute as in this fragment from the Country Band March: (mp3 – source).

Ives was not only interested in subsequent juxtaposition of musical ideas, but also in simultaneous combinations of different kinds of music. An extraordinary example of this is Fourth of July. Imagine strolling around in an American town on the 4th of July. A diversity of sound would reach you from all directions: a brass band, people singing songs, a baseball game, fireworks, etc. Ives put all these 4th-of-July-sounds in 6 minutes of music: (mp3 – source). It takes three conductors to perform the work.

Another main theme throughout Ives’ career is his interest in well-known American melodies. This involves church songs as well as folk songs. In about all of his compositions these melodies are incorporated in one way or another. In the fourth symphony, his largest work, dozens of melodies are used, from “Nearer, My God, to Thee” to “Home, sweet home”.

Ives was not really popular during his lifetime, but after his death this changed completely. Apparently, it was only then that other musicians and composers got interested in things that Ives did already years earlier. He had been far ahead of his time. It was only in 1965 that his fourth symphony was performed for the first time. He did not hear it himself. Nowadays, Ives is regarded one of the first major American composers.

Recommended cd’s

The Orchestral Music of Charles Ives. By: Orchestra New England, James Sinclair (Koch 3-7025-2)

Details: Amazon.com or Emusic.com

Americana. By: Dallas Symphony Orchestra; Donald Johanos (Vox CDX-5182)

Details: Amazon.com or Emusic.com

Symphonies 1-4/Holidays Symphony […]. By: Chicago Symphony Orchestra en Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; Michael Tilson Thomas (Sony SB 3K87746)

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If we go back in history in search of the beginning of classical music, Gregorian chant appears to be one of the most important sources. According to traditional knowledge, it was Pope Gregory the Great who composed the melodies for the liturgical texts of the catholic church. Gregorian chant is named after this Pope, who lived around the year 600. He is often depicted with a dove on his shoulder. This dove is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, who whispered the melodies into Gregory’s ear.

Gregory the Great

As usual, the story is nicer than the history. There was not just one tradition of monophonic liturgical singing in the Middle Ages. Instead, there were many local traditions. In the eight century, the Frankish king Pippin III wished to harmonize all liturgical chant in his vast empire with that of the church of Rome. His son, Charlemange, continued this policy. Thus, the tradition of Rome became very influential. The Roman chant books that were copied by the Frankish scribes named Gregory as the composer of the melodies. It is very well possible that these Roman books referred to Pope Gregory II instead of Gregory the Great, but the Franks assumed the latter was meant. This made the chant tradition of Rome the standard for the entire Western church.
The chants we know from Roman sources are, however, not the same as the chants in the Frankish copies. Probably some alterations were made during the dissemination of the melodies across the vast Frankish empire. The exact history of Gregorian chant is therefore still obscure.

Starting form the ninth century, we find indications of polyphonic singing in the historical sources. To the Gregorian melody one or more other parts were added. Initially quite simple and straightforward, but as early as 1200 in the Notre Dame at Paris, very complex compositions were made. One example is the Alleluia Nativitas by Perotinus. (mp3 – source). The genesis of these early polyphonic compositions can be considered an important starting point of western classical music.

After the Middle Ages, Gregorian chant kept its influence. Except for being the ‘breeding ground’ for later styles, the melodies themselves were used often in all kinds of compositions. Let’s have three examples.

When Johann Sebastian Bach wrote the Credo of the Hohe Messe, he included the Gregorian melody for “Credo in unum Deum”. Listen to the Gregorian melody: (mp3 – source), and to the beginning of Bach’s Credo: (mp3 – source).

Another example from the Baroque we can find in French organ music. François Couperin (1668-1733) composed a mass for organ, incorporating Gregorian melodies. Listen to the sung Kyrie: (mp3 – source), and to Couperin’s organ verse, where the melody is played in long notes on the pedal: (mp3 – source).

Maurice Duruflé is a twentieth-century composer who was profoundly influenced by Gregorian chant. One can hear it in almost all of his compositions. In his Requiem (1947) these ancient melodies are interwoven with the sound of the modern orchestra. At the beginning of the Introit, the choir sings the unaltered Gregorian melody. Listen to the chant: (mp3 – source), and to the beginning of Duruflé’s Requiem: (mp3 – source)

Recommended cd’s

Chant – Music For Paradise. By: Cisterciënzer Monniken Van Stift Heiligenkreuz (Universal 4766774)

Details: Amazon.com

J.S. Bach – Messe in H-Moll. By: Collegium Vocale, Ghent; Philippe Herreweghe (Virgin Veritas VCD 5 45163 2)

Details: Amazon.com

François Couperin – Messe pour les Paroisses. By: Michel Bouvard – Schola Meridionalis (BMG 74321470042)

Fauré – Duruflé – Requiem. By: Richard Hickox (Eloquence 466 844-2)

Details: Amazon.com

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