Charles Ives - Set No. 5 ("The Other Side of Pioneering") for chamber orchestra

Charles Ives (1874-1954)
Set No. 5 "The Other Side of Pioneering", or "Side Lights on American Enterprise"
for chamber orchestra

I. The New River 0:00
II. The Indians 1:17
III. Charlie Rutlage 3:11
IV. Ann Street 5:39

Music Projects/London, Richard Bernas

"The New River" (lyrics):

Down the river comes a noise!
It is not the voice of rolling waters.
It's only the sound of man,
phonographs and gasoline,
dancing halls and tambourine;
Killed is the blare of the hunting horn
The River Gods are gone.

"Charlie Rutlage" and the Set No. 5 (comment):

Set No. 5 is the source of Set No. 8 ("Songs without Voices") which simply omits Charlie Rutlage. Ives indicates forces for this set that differ, if at times subtly, from those planned for Set No. 8. The critical edition of mvt iii (Charlie Rutlage) was realized by the editor based on Ives's quite adequate annotations. Another orchestration was made by Amadeo de Filippi in 1938. In a draft for a letter for Harmony Ives to write to Bernard Herrmann Ives writes: "...Mr. Ives has received a letter from Mr. Mordecai Bauman asking if 'Charlie Rutlage' is or could be arranged for voice & symphony orchestra as he wants to sing it at a symphony concert in New York in December. This has never been so arranged & Mr. Ives, who as you know cannot undertake these things nowadays on account of his eyesight, wonders if you would be willing to do it...As he remembers, a part, or at least passages in the middle section were suggested by an earlier score for Brass band--'A runaway horse on Main St.'--he will send you a copy if you like--it may be of some help. On the enclosed copy of the song there are a few suggestions [followed by suggestions for orchestration]... The first & last pages for the most part might be a kind of strumming accompaniment by strings alone... A low tympani or two might beat time with the basso as a kind of Indian tom-tom... The middle section, the runaway horse part, would be for full orchestra & plenty of drums...". Despite similarities between the melody of Ives's Charlie Rutlage and the tune to which the text was originally sung ("The Lake of Pontchartrain"), Ives probably did not know that this tune was used for this text and thus could not have used it as a model. ~ James B. Sinclair

Category:

Music

Tags:

• chalres
• ives
• set
• chamber
• orchestra
• charlie
• rutlage

[ThaSchwab]

Charlie Rutlage is such a great song.

[Chesterton7]

Thank you for posting this!