Sunday, October 20, 2019

October 20 - Charles Ives; Robert Craft (The Musical Birthday Series)

Charles Ives (20 October 1874 – 19 May 1954) is arguably the greatest composer the United States has yet produced.




















Taking Good Dissonance Like a Man

A  maverick composer named Ives
Gave concert hall patrons the hives,
The businessmen grumbled,
“This stuff is all jumbled,”
And left in a huff with their wives.



Unanswered Question

When Ives wrote his Symphony 4,
He planned his most avant-garde score.
So was it improvement
To throw in a movement
He’d written two decades before?


THE Unanswered Question

When asking the Unanswered Question,
The trumpeter makes a suggestion.
The woodwinds make tries
At repeated replies
With increasingly frantic congestion.


Essaying a Sonata

The pianist who struggles and strives
To conquer the Concord of Ives,
Knows “Alcotts” is quaint,
But the rest of it ain’t,
And that only the bravest survive.

♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪ 


Robert Craft (20 October 1923 – 10 November 2015) was a conductor and writer who 
had a long working relationship with Igor Stravinsky.
















Artsy Crafty

When Craft gave the world conversation
With Stravinsky it caused a sensation.
But when critics shared doubt
About what they found out,
He had to admit
He’d adapted a bit,
But went on to insist
That he gave us the gist
In his ready-for-print adaptation.



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