Stylistic Heterogeneity and Topics in the Music of Charles Ives

摘要

Juxtaposing disparate styles is a defining characteristic of Ives's music. Analyzing “The Alcotts” from the Concord Sonata, Larry Starr showed how styles ranging from diatonic tonality to three distinct post-tonal styles delineate the form, and argued that Ives was exceptional in embracing “stylistic heterogeneity” as a basic principle. Yet Ives's practice fits well in the tradition of musical topics described by Leonard Ratner and others, especially the coordination of contrasting styles to provide variety and articulate the form. A topical approach also reveals how using styles that carry particular associations creates expressivity and meaning. Ives uses as topics numerous traditional styles, beginning in his early tonal music, as well as modernist stylizations of familiar styles. Understanding Ives's stylistic heterogeneity as the use of topics allows a deeper and more comprehensive analysis of “The Alcotts” and other works and links his practice to that of past composers such as Mozart.View full textDownload full textRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01411896.2012.686415