Universe Symphony (Ives)
Encyclopedia
The Universe Symphony is an unfinished work by American classical music composer Charles Ives
.
The date of composition is unknown, but he probably worked on it periodically between 1911 and 1928. Intended to be a "spatial" composition for two or more orchestra
s, it is in three sections:
He conceived the idea during the autumn of 1915 while he was staying in the Adirondacks of New York State. He left it alone until 1923, when he returned to working on it. Although he spent many years on it, many of the sketches are missing. During the 1990s there were three separate performing versions assembled, including a version by David Gray Porter (1993, Section A plus the Coda and part of a first Prelude only), Larry Austin
(1994), and J. Reinhard (1996).
It is a complex work, using 20 independent musical lines; each moves in a separate meter, only coinciding on downbeats eight seconds apart. According to his notes on a sketch of the Universe Symphony, Ives was "striving to . paint the creation, the mysterious beginnings of all things known through God and man, to trace with tonal imprints the vastness, the evolution of all life, in nature, of humanity from the great roots of life to the spiritual eternities, from the great inknown to the great unknown." Ives envisioned the work being performed by multiple orchestras located in valleys, on hillsides and mountains, with the music mimicking "the eternal pulse . the planetary motion of the earth . the soaring lines of mountains and cliffs . deep ravines, sharp jagged edges of rock."
Pages are missing or were never written.
The first part (AKA "Section A") was derived from a sketch of 1915 for a piece called "The Earth and the Heavens" or "The Earth and the Firmament," with one group of instruments representing the Earth and another group representing the Heavens, and with a group of percussion instruments reprenting the eternal pulse of the universe underlying both. This is the most complete large fragment of the piece, along with a Coda for the complete movement written in a similar style that shares the same four main "Earth-themes" of Section A. The main "sky-theme" is the only theme built upon a quotation, the hymn tune
"Bethany" ("Nearer My God to Thee," the same hymn tune used as the basis for the Finale of his Fourth Symphony.)
There were also to be three Preludes to the Symphony, but none were completed. The most complete is the first Prelude, but again this was not completed, left only in the form of an outline-sketch with musical examples. For more information see James B. Sinclair's "Descriptive Catalogue" of Ives's music and manuscripts (1999).
Charles Ives
Charles Edward Ives was an American modernist composer. He is one of the first American composers of international renown, though Ives' music was largely ignored during his life, and many of his works went unperformed for many years. Over time, Ives came to be regarded as an "American Original"...
.
The date of composition is unknown, but he probably worked on it periodically between 1911 and 1928. Intended to be a "spatial" composition for two or more orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
s, it is in three sections:
- Part 1, "Past: Formation of the waters and mountains"
- Part 2, "Present: Earth, evolution in nature and humanity"
- Part 3, "Future: Heaven, the rise of all to the Spiritual".
He conceived the idea during the autumn of 1915 while he was staying in the Adirondacks of New York State. He left it alone until 1923, when he returned to working on it. Although he spent many years on it, many of the sketches are missing. During the 1990s there were three separate performing versions assembled, including a version by David Gray Porter (1993, Section A plus the Coda and part of a first Prelude only), Larry Austin
Larry Austin
Larry Austin is a United States composer noted for his electronic and computer music works. He was a co-founder and editor of the avant-garde music periodical Source: Music of the Avant Garde...
(1994), and J. Reinhard (1996).
It is a complex work, using 20 independent musical lines; each moves in a separate meter, only coinciding on downbeats eight seconds apart. According to his notes on a sketch of the Universe Symphony, Ives was "striving to . paint the creation, the mysterious beginnings of all things known through God and man, to trace with tonal imprints the vastness, the evolution of all life, in nature, of humanity from the great roots of life to the spiritual eternities, from the great inknown to the great unknown." Ives envisioned the work being performed by multiple orchestras located in valleys, on hillsides and mountains, with the music mimicking "the eternal pulse . the planetary motion of the earth . the soaring lines of mountains and cliffs . deep ravines, sharp jagged edges of rock."
Pages are missing or were never written.
The first part (AKA "Section A") was derived from a sketch of 1915 for a piece called "The Earth and the Heavens" or "The Earth and the Firmament," with one group of instruments representing the Earth and another group representing the Heavens, and with a group of percussion instruments reprenting the eternal pulse of the universe underlying both. This is the most complete large fragment of the piece, along with a Coda for the complete movement written in a similar style that shares the same four main "Earth-themes" of Section A. The main "sky-theme" is the only theme built upon a quotation, the hymn tune
Hymn tune
A hymn tune is the melody of a musical composition to which a hymn text is sung. Musically speaking, a hymn is generally understood to have four-part harmony, a fast harmonic rhythm , and no refrain or chorus....
"Bethany" ("Nearer My God to Thee," the same hymn tune used as the basis for the Finale of his Fourth Symphony.)
There were also to be three Preludes to the Symphony, but none were completed. The most complete is the first Prelude, but again this was not completed, left only in the form of an outline-sketch with musical examples. For more information see James B. Sinclair's "Descriptive Catalogue" of Ives's music and manuscripts (1999).
Instrumentation
The score calls for a very odd instrumentation of the following:- woodwinds: 9 flutes (2 doubling piccoloPiccoloThe piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written...
, 1 doubling wooden flute), 2 oboes, 3 clarinets, 5 bassoons (2 doubling contrabassoonContrabassoonThe contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon or double-bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower...
)
- brass: 5 trumpets, 4 hornsHorn (instrument)The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
, 4 trombones, 2 tubasTubasTubas or Toubas is a small Palestinian city in the northeastern West Bank, located northeast of Nablus, a few kilometers west of the Jordan River. A city of over 16,000 inhabitants, it serves as the economic and administrative center of the Tubas Governorate. Its urban area consists of 2,271 dunams...
- keyboards: pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
/celesteCelestaThe celesta or celeste is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. Its appearance is similar to that of an upright piano or of a large wooden music box . The keys are connected to hammers which strike a graduated set of metal plates suspended over wooden resonators...
, organOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
- strings: harpHarpThe harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
, 8 violins, 5 violas, 4 cellos, 3 double basses
- percussion: 12 percussionist (low bellBell (instrument)A bell is a simple sound-making device. The bell is a percussion instrument and an idiophone. Its form is usually a hollow, cup-shaped object, which resonates upon being struck...
, bass drumBass drumBass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...
/cymbalCymbalCymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...
, low gongGongA gong is an East and South East Asian musical percussion instrument that takes the form of a flat metal disc which is hit with a mallet....
, bass drum, timpaniTimpaniTimpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
, triangleTriangleA triangle is one of the basic shapes of geometry: a polygon with three corners or vertices and three sides or edges which are line segments. A triangle with vertices A, B, and C is denoted ....
, high gong, log drumLog drumA log drum is a type of unpitched percussion instrument.*see drum for the history of log drum and information on the log drum as a means of communication in ancient cultures* see also:**Tongue drum**Slit drum**Bosalabos**Wood block...
, piccolo tympani, Indian drum, snare drumSnare drumThe snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...
, 2 kinds of metal pipe, high brittle wood, medium small xylophoneXylophoneThe xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets...
, clay pipes, different sizes of wood blocks and boards, low xylophone, large tambourineTambourineThe tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
, small triangle, wood block, high bell, suspended cymbalSuspended cymbalright|thumb|Classical suspended cymbalA suspended cymbal is any single cymbal played with a stick or beater rather than struck against another cymbal. A common abbreviation used is sus. cym., or sus. cymb. .-History:...
, glasses, drum rims, small steel bars, castenets, marble slab)
Source
- J. Peter Burkholder. "Charles Ives", Grove Music OnlineGrove Dictionary of Music and MusiciansThe New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, it is the largest single reference work on Western music. The dictionary has gone through several editions since the 19th century...
, ed. L. Macy (accessed May 1, 2005), grovemusic.com (subscription access).