THE STORY BEHIND: Ives's Fugue (from Symphony No.4)

Title: Symphony No.4: Fugue (From Greenland's Icy Mountains)

Composer: Charles Ives (1874-1954)

Last time performed by the Rhode Island Philharmonic: This is a RI Philharmonic Orchestra premiere. This piece is scored for flute, clarinet, horn, trombone, timpani and strings.

The Story: 

"The Fourth Symphony...is one of the greatest symphonies ever penned. It is the great American symphony that our critics and conductors have cried out for, and yet the symphony has remained unperformed..." - Bernard Herrmann

Having composed some of the best film scores Hollywood ever produced (from Citizen Kane to Taxi Driver, and almost every single Hitchcock film), Bernard Hermann knew a thing or two about great music. So it comes as a bit of a surprise that Ives' Fourth Symphony did not receive its premiere as a complete work until the American Symphony Orchestra performed it at Carnegie Hall, under the baton of Leopold Stokowski, in 1965 – nearly five decades after it was written and 11 years after Ives had died. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated story for Ives and his music.
         
Generally revered for its brilliance today, Ives’ music is the product of deeply rooted philosophical and spiritual convictions. His compositions reflect an unwavering faith in the common man, and are often meant to celebrate the disparate cultures, beliefs and customs of America. But he did so with an unruly aesthetic that tended to shun romanticism for its own sake, seeking instead to capture the reality of the lived American experiences with arresting clarity.
         
The fugue from his Fourth Symphony is a perfect example of this. Based on the congregational hymn "From Greenland's Icy Mountains," it sidesteps established musical rules, but does not abandon them altogether. Here and there we find unexpected pauses, a few wayward harmonies, some gentle dissonances, and a climactic trombone that seemingly comes out of nowhere with the theme from Handel's "Joy to the World." Ives, himself, called it "an expression of the reaction of life into formalism and ritualism."

Program Notes by Jamie Allen © 2024 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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