Being one of the formative composers of
American modernism and one of the first American composers of international
relevancy, Charles Ives – as was briefly discussed during the seminar – could
be viewed (and often is thought of) as something of a living incarnation of the
American concept of the “melting pot” - turning manifold fragmented impulses,
signifiers, motifs etc. into a new, comprehensive whole. Almost akin to an
early example of musical sampling, Ives frequently includes motifs and melodic
fragments from mainly European art and popular music – in the case of his
popular 'Concord' piano sonata, there are clear tributes being paid to
Beethoven's fifth symphony or, more specifically, its iconic, recognizable
theme.
In
the case of his Piano Sonata No. 2, these recognizable motifs are essentially
“drowned” in a sea of experimental and freely atonal material, perhaps
emblematically mirroring American history, which is, of course, itself rife
with violent, settler colonial conflict. One could make the case that the
generic signifiers of European art and popular music compilated within Ives'
music may represent the character of the European settler in the “New World”
uncompromisingly propagating their culture amid a torrent of unimaginable,
chaotic violence. His Piano Sonata No. 2 certainly captures this clashing of
discordant elements – its tempo incessantly speeding up and slowing down, its
notes being played like hammers on wood, with occasional familiar thematic
elements seemingly trying their best to break free from the turmoil.
As
such, one could say not only of Piano Sonata No. 2 but perhaps of Ives'
compositional work as a whole that it is not only some of the first “genuinely
American” music historiographically, but indeed also and especially in a
structural and stylistic sense.
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