Growing into Charles Ives

The only class I ever got a C in was Twentieth Century Music Theory. I hated it. Basically, I didn't like 20th century art music, so studying it was pure torture. Consequently, I devoted as little time to it as possible.

So, it's really something that this evening I attended a lecture on Charles Ives of my own free will. And actually enjoyed it. I think the difference is 8 more years of life experience and maturity. It takes a mature intellect to appreciate the abstract works of 20th century art music composers. It also reflects a higher level of maturity that I now value learning for its own sake. I can't imagine attending a lecture as an undergrad that I was not required to attend.

I still don't like all of Ives' music. Maybe I'll be mature enough to appreciate it later. Maybe not. There's something entertaining about the idea of a duet featuring two pianos tuned a quarter tone apart. That is to say, the idea is most amusing, but the music itself is most disturbing. Still, some of his music is quite beautiful to the point that I considered adding some of it to my library. Most entertaining, however, is his literature. I perused a couple of pages of a book of essays he wrote, and nearly every other sentence stands alone as a witty, thought-provoking quotation. I think I will try to track down a copy of that book.

Unfortunately, none of the quotation websites Google brought up share any of the dozens of quotes that attracted my attention, so I will have to share those with you at a later time. Goodnight!