Ives and Griffes

Ives was one of the most influential figures to 20th century music. What is most interesting about him compared to most other composers, is that he composed as a hobby. His main occupation was selling insurance. He was well versed in music however, probably because of the way his father encouraged him to explore music growing up. His father wanted him to have an open mind in music, and to look into bi-tonality and polytonal harmonies. One exercise he would have Charles do was to sing in one key while he would accompany it in another key, maybe only a half step away from the original key. This different way of looking and exploring music is probably what made him such an innovative composer. Probably his most famous work is the piano sonata no. 2. The third movement, Alcotts, begins very lyrical with a clear tonality. The tonality begins to become more ambiguous as it goes along. More chord clusters are heard as the texture builds up. He also throws in the motive from Beethoven's fifth symphony but constantly is changing it and building upon it. The music builds up and becomes more disturbed but always seems to die back down to a more peaceful atmosphere of sound. This is much different from the pieces "Some South-Paw Pitching" which begins with a single chord before breaking out into clusters. It again has a lyrical quality but Ives uses many different textures and articulations back to back, like a staccato left hand phrase, juxtaposed with a slurred, washed sound right after.

Griffes was another influential American composer. His music has been known to be very impressionistic. His 3 Tone Pictures clearly represent that. The first movement is titled "The Lake at Evening." It has a repeated pattern of notes in the left hand that occur under the melody throughout most of the piece. This helps create unity throughout the whole piece, maybe trying to portray the stillness of the lake. The second movement is titled "The Vales of Dreams." It has a lot of embellishments in the melody, with a very free, rubato feeling to it. This creates a very "dream-like" state. The last movement,"The Night Winds," has running arpeggiated patterns up and down to the piano with a melody intertwined. He uses this flourishing motion to depict the winds.