Tone Roads No. 1
Tone Roads No. 1 | |
---|---|
Chamber music composition by Charles Ives | |
Genre | Modernism |
Time | |
Composed | 1911 |
Published | 1949 |
Publisher | Peermusic |
Recorded | October 1962 — Harold Farberman and the Boston Chamber Ensemble |
Scoring | Chamber ensemble or chamber orchestra |
Premiere | |
Date | August 10, 1949 |
Location | San Francisco |
Conductor | George Barati |
Performers | Barati Chamber Orchestra |
Tone Roads No. 1 is a short composition for chamber ensemble by American composer Charles Ives. It was finished in 1911.
Background
Tone Roads No. 1 was written by Ives in 1911, during a productive composition in his life that led him to write many of his best known works. It was included soon after in a suite entitled Tone Roads et al. in 1915, with Tone Roads No. 2, now believed to be lost, and Tone Roads No. 3.[1] However, the composition is published and often performed separately. In early sketches of the piece, Ives wrote that "All roads lead to Rome and to F. E. Hartwell & Co. Gent's Furnishings."[2][3] The individual piece was initially subtitled "Tone Roads, rough ones—good ones, bad ones, fast ones, slow ones!".[2]
Ives only ended up including an inscription at the end that reads "All roads lead to the Centre—in a race to the Town Meetin'."
Structure
Tone Roads No. 1 is scored for a small chamber ensemble consisting of a
The scoring is presumed to have changed within the few years after the piece's completion. Ives wrote in pencil in some manuscripts that it is possible to use three violins, two violas, two cellos, and double bass, apart from the wind section mentioned previously. In other manuscripts, Ives also added a trombone. However, the original instrumentation, which was discarded at the time, featured a flute, a clarinet, a trombone, and a piano.[2]
Over the rough & rocky roads are ole Forefathers strode on their way to the steepled village church or to the farmers Harvest Home Fair or to the Town Meetings, where they got up and said whatever they thought regardless of consequences!
Charles Ives, Inscription on the original manuscript of Tone Roads No. 1.[3][4]
Roads
Written "half serious, half in fun, but carefully worked out", Tone Roads No. 1 is a piece where counterpoint is paramount, as contrapuntal lines are meant to represent roads, all converging in the center of a town, where a meeting is taking place.[3] According to Ives, the "Tone Roads" are meant to represent roads that lead right and left (F. E. Hartwell & Co. Gent's Furnishings), right before starting an afternoon's sport. All the wagons and carriages in the township take different roads that are in different conditions, but all of them converge in "Main Street" in the end.[7] In this case, the center of town is represented by all instruments (or roads) ending up in the same key: "All roads lead to Rome."[3]
According to scholar
Recordings
- The first documented recording of this composition was taken in October 1962, with the Boston Chamber Ensemble with conductor Harold Farberman. It was released in 1963 on LP by Cambridge Records.[2]
- Conductor Columbia Masterworks.[9]
- Avery Fisher Hall in New York City and was released by Deutsche Grammophon on compact disc in 1990[10] and re-released in 2004,[11] 2013,[12] and 2018.[13]
- Conductor Ingo Metzmacher also recorded the piece with the Ensemble Modern under EMI Classics. The performance was recorded at the hall of Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt, between December 2 and 6, 1991. The recording was made available on compact disc in 1992[14] and re-released in 2008,[15]
References
- ^ a b "Tone Roads et al., Charles Ives" (work details) (in French and English). IRCAM.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-300-07601-1. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-300-10534-6. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
- ^ a b c d Ives, Charles (2000). Tone Roads No. 1: for chamber ensemble or chamber orchestra. Peer International. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
- AllMusic
- ^ "Ives, Charles / Tone Roads No. 1 – Score and Parts". Retrieved 3 August 2021.
- ISBN 978-0-393-30756-6. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
- ISBN 978-0-521-42464-6. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
- ^ Charles Ives – Calcium Light Night (liner notes). Columbia Masterworks. 1970. MS 7318.
- ^ "Ives Symphony No. 2 / Bernstein". Deutsche Grammophon. Retrieved 2021-07-21.
- ^ The Americans: Complete Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon (liner notes). Deutsche Grammophon. 2004. 474 940-2.
- ^ Simeone, Nigel (2013). Charles Ives – Central Park in the Dark (liner notes). Deutsche Grammophon. 479-1512.
- ^ Leonard Bernstein – Complete Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon & Decca (liner notes). Deutsche Grammophon. 2018. 0289 479 8418 4 and Decca 0289 479.
- ^ A Portrait of Charles Ives (liner notes). EMI Classics. 1992. 7 54552 2.
- ^ Charles Ives – Songs – Orchestral Sets – From the Steeples and Mountains (liner notes). EMI Classics. 2008. 2 06631 2.