Ives - Orchestral Set No. 2 (Thomas/Concertgebouw)

Charles Ives: Orchestral Set No. 2 (1909–19) 0:00 - Instrumentation 0:06 - I. An Elegy to Our Forefathers 5:51 - II. The Rockstrewn Hills Join in the People's Outdoor Meeting 10:38 - III. From Hanover Square North, at the End of a Tragic Day, the Voice of the People Again Arose Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor; Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Like the Orchestral Set No. 1 ("Three Places in New England"), the movements of the Second Orchestral Set were not written simultaneously, but rather compiled from different material written over several years. The first movement was written around the same time as "The 'St. Gaudens' in Boston Common" from Three Places in New England and has various similarities. The movement was originally called "An Elegy to Stephen Foster," and makes reference to the tunes "Massa's in de Cold Ground" and "Old Black Joe." The second movement is Ives's last substantial ragtime-inspired movement, and draws much of its material from his earlier Four Ragtime Dances from between 1902 and 1911. According to the critical edition, "48% of [the movement is from] Ragtime Dance No. 3, 35% to what appears to be new material, 14% to Ragtime Dance No. 2, and 3% to Ragtime Dance No. 1." The third movement is perhaps the most well-known movement of the three, containing one of Ives's greatest climactic buildups. and it depicts a specific scene from 7 May 1915, the day the H.M.S. Lusitania was sunk, setting the stage for the American entry into World War I: "I remember, going downtown to business, the people on the streets and on the elevated train had something in their faces that was not the usual something. Everybody who came into the office, whether they spoke about the disaster or not, showed a realization of seriously experiencing something. (That it meant war is what the faces said, if the tongues didn't.) Leaving the office and going uptown about six o'clock, I took the Third Avenue "L" at Hanover Square Station. As I came on the platform, there was quite a crowd waiting for the trains, which had been blocked lower down, and while waiting there, a hand-organ or hurdy-gurdy was playing in the street below. Some workmen sitting on the side of the tracks began to whistle the tune, and others began to sing or hum the refrain. A workman with a shovel over his shoulder came on the platform and joined in the chorus, and the next man, a Wall Street banker with white spats and a cane, joined in it, and finally it seemed to me that everybody was singing this tune, and they didn't seem to be singing in fun, but as a natural outlet for what their feelings had been going through all day long. There was a feeling of dignity all through this. The hand-organ man seemed to sense this and wheeled the organ nearer the platform and kept it up fortissimo (and the chorus sounded out as though every man in New York must be joining in it). Then the first train came in and everybody crowded in, and the song gradually died out, but the effect on the crowd still showed. Almost nobody talked-the people acted as though they might be coming out of a church service. In going uptown, occasionally little groups would start singing or humming the tune. "Now what was the tune? It wasn't a Broadway hit, it wasn't a musical comedy air, it wasn't a waltz tune or a dance tune or an opera tune or a classical tune, or a tune that all of them probably knew. It was (only) the refrain of an old Gospel Hymn that had stirred many people of past generations. It was nothing but In the Sweet Bye and Bye. It wasn't a tune written to be sold, or written by a professor of music—but by a man who was but giving out an experience. "This third movement is based on this, fundamentally, and comes from that "L" station. It has its secondary themes [and] rhythms, but widely related, and its general make-up would reflect the sense of many people living, working, and occasionally going through the same deep experience, together. It would give the ever changing multitudinous feeling of life that one senses in the city." (Ives, Memos, pp. 32–33) Sources: Charles E. Ives: Memos, ed. Kirkpatrick (Norton, 1972); Ives: Orchestral Set No. 2, Critical Edition, ed. James B. Sinclair (Peer Music, 2001) (The scan of the score is my own, and I apologize for its overall low quality.) This video is made solely for educational and promotional purposes, and all rights are reserved by the original holders: the publishers, recording labels, and musicians.