The New York Times had an article regarding Morton Feldman this past week, reminding the readers that 2026 is the 100th anniversary of his birth. That fact escaped me. I've jotted down my thoughts on various Feldman recordings here previously, and I guess I will continue to do so. The article included a comment that John Cage had more significant influence for his ideas, but it's Feldman's music that currently more people want to play. I'd come to the same conclusion. There was also a comment that because he was something of an outsider and not steeped in traditional modern techniques, he was free to pursue a more personal musical language. I suppose that's true. After hearing Amy Williams (quoted in the article) play Triadic Memories, I commented to composer Eric Moe that it took a lot of confidence on Feldman's part to write as little as he did. Eric chuckled and basically said, "Yeah."
There was a three part documentary mini series on PBS recently regarding Henry David Thoreau. It's not a Ken Burns series but he is credited with producing it, and it's not too far astray from his work. Celebrities read passages quoted from subjects: Jeff Goldblum for Thoreau, Ted Danson for Ralph Waldo Emerson, and George Clooney narrating. I enjoyed learning about Thoreau's adamant belief in the Abolitionist movement, and that New England women's groups at the time were highly involved.
Thoreau's name brought to mind the work below:
Charles Ives: "Concord" Sonata on vinyl (Mainstream) played by Aloys Kontarsky.
The sonata, completed around 1915 and published in 1920, is comprised of four movements: "Emerson", "Hawthorne", "The Alcotts", and "Thoreau". I doubt I'll ever get around to reading any Thoreau myself, so listening to Ives' dedication is about as close as I'm going to come.
What of the work? I think I've made this comment about other works previous, but it often hangs in an ambiguous state somewhere between being tonal and atonal. I can perceive passages that sound polytonal, particularly in the second half. Ives being Ives, the second movement in particular quotes a familiar melody ("Columbia" I think it is) and collages in a church chorale of some sort. In general there's a feeling of post-Romanticism. It's not "cool" music for the most part.
Which makes "The Alcotts" stand out all the more. The gentlest of the four movements, it opens with a lovely chorale-like passage that demonstrates Ives' abilities in writing music that's closer to being triadic. It doesn't stay there through the entire movement, and indeed Ives occasional tosses in a high-ranged note that's completely ill-fitting with the harmony at the time. The opening of the movement, I heard the potential of some sort of larger jazz ensemble extraction/arrangement. And wouldn't you know it? I was just reading that Bruce Hornsby quotes the beginning of this movement in one of his songs, "Every Little Kiss". He said he was almost sued for it. Listening to it now, it's not a direct quote but clearly derived from Ives' sonata. Barry Manilow directly quoted Chopin, but I guess too much time had elapsed for anyone to threaten civil action in that case.
What is that elusive line dividing tribute, quote, and plagiarism? How do you legislate a chord progression? Or sound in general? Ives himself liberally and directly quotes many other works in his pieces. I don't think anyone has ever accused him of stealing; if anything, it's an element that distinguishes him from other composers of his time.
All I know is that I don't have answers to those questions.
