An Introduction to America’s Music

(Marvins-Underground-K-12) #1

200 PART 2 | FROM THE CIVIL WAR THROUGH WORLD WAR I


date: 1917
performers: Mary Ann Hart, mezzo-
soprano; Dennis Helmrich, piano
genre: art song
meter: duple, often obscured by irregular
rhythms
form: through-composed

timing text comments

0:00 I think there must be a place in the soul
all made of tunes of long ago;

“My Old Kentucky Home” in the voice, with the fi rst
few notes inverted. The piano echoes the melody in a
different key.

0:19 I hear the organ on the Main Street
corner,

Quotation of “On the Banks of the Wabash.”

0:27 Aunt Sarah humming gospels; Quotation of NETTLETON.

0:37 Summer evenings, A suggestion of the richly chromatic style of Richard
Wagner.

0:44 The village cornet band, playing in the
square.
The town’s Red, White and Blue, all
Red, White and Blue

“The Battle Cry of Freedom” (see LG 6.5), fi rst in
the piano and then in the voice as well. The piano is
noticeably ahead of the voice. Gradually increasing
speed and volume.
0:56 Now! Hear the songs! I know not what
are the words
But they sing in my soul...

The voice quotes “Sweet By and By” (see LG 7.2) while
“The Battle Cry of Freedom” continues in the piano’s
upper register, over a thick, rolling, romantic keyboard
texture. After the climax, a gradual slowing and
softening.
1:14... of the things our Fathers loved. A return to the quiet mood of the opening. The
fi nal dissonance is very soft and gentle but lacks a
conventional resolution.

Listen & Refl ect



  1. It is possible to read Ives’s text as referring to three different times: a spiritual timeless-
    ness, the past, and the present. Where are these divisions in the song, and how does the
    composer use music to distinguish them?

  2. Some commentators have interpreted the “now” of the song as 1917, the year Ives
    composed it. What current event in world history might have inspired this song, and
    how might that affect how the song is understood?


WHAT TO LISTEN FOR


  • shifting moods

  • deliberate “disagreements” of key and
    rhythm between voice and piano

  • use of quotations


CD 1.27 Listening Guide 8.3 “The Things Our Fathers Loved” CHARLES IVES

172028_08_183-204_r3_ko.indd 200 23/01/13 10:24 AM

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