On Charles Ives’ birthday, I’m remembering my visit to the composer’s studio, meticulously recreated on the third floor of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in New York City – right down to the pencil shavings on his desk. The room includes such Ives totems as his battered felt hat, his wooden cane, and his dad’s cornet. On a music stand sits a printed score of “The Unanswered Question.”

The sensation is like dropping in on the composer’s home in West Redding, Connecticut. Ives worked in the ground-floor studio there for the last 40 years of his life.

A concert was presented as part of the studio’s dedication on April 13, 2014. Violinist Wendy Sharp and pianist Melvin Chen played the Violin Sonata No. 2, with its three movements “Autumn,” “In the Barn,” and “Revival.” Vintage Ives in high nostalgia mode, with plentiful allusions to hymns, fiddle tunes, and patriotic melodies.

That was followed by the JACK Quartet in the String Quartet No. 2. The composer characterized the musicians as four people who “converse, discuss, argue (in re ‘Politick’), fight, shake hands, shut up – then walk up the mountain side to view the firmament.”

Finally, Gilbert Kalish brought all his authority to bear on the Piano Sonata No. 2, “Concord.” I originally got to know the piece from Kalish’s Nonesuch LP, issued all the way back in 1977. Carol Wincenc played the flute line in the sonata’s Thoreau-inspired fourth movement. Luxury casting indeed!

The program notes were by Vivian Perlis.

There was also a reception, at which attendees were offered a bag of Ives souvenir cookies.

The Academy’s mission is to foster, assist, and sustain excellence in American literature, music, and art. Ives was elected to the Academy in 1946. In 1969, his widow, Harmony, bequeathed to the Academy the royalties to his music. The royalty income has funded over 250 scholarships and fellowships in music composition.

The studio is open during gallery hours for the Academy’s two annual exhibitions in the spring, and by special appointment throughout the year during business hours. Learn more about it and view a slide show with more photos here:

https://artsandletters.org/exhibition/charles-ives-studio/

Happy birthday, Charles Ives!

“The Unanswered Question” (1908)

Kalish performs Ives’ “Concord Sonata” (1904-15), four movements posted separately

An orchestration by Henry Brant

Leonard Bernstein’s remarks on the Symphony No. 2 (1897-1902)

My preferred recording of the symphony, so beautiful (though not always entirely accurate, in regard to Ives’ intentions), with Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic in 1960.

Violin Sonata No. 2 (1917?)

“The Yale-Princeton Football Game” (1898)

“Hallowe’en” (1914)

“The Fourth of July” (1912)

Ives sings!

“When you hear strong masculine music like this, get up and USE YOUR EARS LIKE A MAN!” – Charles Ives