Charles Ives

Synopsis

American composer, organist, and teacher

• Born in Danbury, CT on Oct. 20, 1874
• Was taught harmony and counterpoint from his musical father
• 1888- 1902 became the youngest salaried organist in CT, and worked for various churches since then.
• 1893 moved to New Haven, CT
• 1893-4 became the organist at St. Thomas's Episcopal Church in New Haven.
• 1894 became organist at Center Church on the Green and entered Yale where he studied with Horatio Parker
• 1895 Studied with Dudley Buck
• 1898 moved to New York after Graduating from Yale. Became an insurance salesman, which is how he supported himself for the rest of his life.
• 1898-1900 organist in Bloomfield, New Jersey
• 1900 organist at Central Presbyterian Church in New York
• 1902 "resigned as a nice organist and gave up music." (quote from Ives himself)
• 1908 married Harmony Twichell
• 1927 stopped composing new works and dedicated himself solely to revision of his previous works.
• Died in New York, NY on May 19, 1954

His most famous organ work is Variation on "America" (1891-92). He has written anthems and sacred songs for church services. Many of his works were lost because when he left his last position as organist he left some of his music there and it was thrown away. In regard to his style, "Many of the distinctive features of Ives's mature music stem from his experience as an organist, including his penchant for improvisation, virtuosic demands on performers, orchestration with layering or juxtaposition of contrasting timbres (akin to contrasting ranks of pipes on the organ's different keyboards), spatial effects (based on alternating Great and swell keyboards), and frequent use of pedal points, Fugal textures, and hymn tune elaborations, all characteristics of the organ repertoire." (Oxford Music online).

For details, see the as listed in Wikipedia article Charles Ives.

List of Organ Works

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Opus	Title	Year
Op. 131	Adeste Fideles in the style of an organ Prelude	1898
Op. 134	Canzonetta in F	1893-4
Op. 135	Fugue in C minor	1898
Op. 136	Fugue in Eb	1898
Op. 137	Interludes for Hymns	1898-1901
Op. 140	Variations on "America"	1891-2 rev. in 1949

Background and General Perspectives on Performing These Organ Works

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Registration and Organs

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See the footnote in the "Notes" section at the bottom of the page

Fingering and Pedaling

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Articulation and Phrasing

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Ornamentation

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Tempo and Meter

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Scores and Editions

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Recordings

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Free Online

• Variations on America
• Variations on London Bridge

Pay to Listen

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Other Resources

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Notes

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