Summary
A new biography of Charles Ives, employing what the author refers to as an "Ivesian" approach, in which the music and life form a single story, firmly rooted in Ives's Yankee background.
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Media Reviews
"A conscientious, intellectually honest sifting of the plentiful evidence, though undoubtedly not the last word on its subject."
-- Kirkus
"This is a book of overriding generosity, more tolerant of Ives flaws than those of such stern assessors as Virgil Thompson and Elliott Carter." -- Donal Henahan
-- New York Times Book Review
"Swafford's unrelenting quest for accuracy and fair play is further enhanced by a lively writing style and his composer's insights into the creative process." -- Kenneth Singleton
-- Washington Post Book World
"Swafford...intersperses his biography with valuable 'entra'actes' of approachable musical analysis, and ends with a ringing endorsement of Ives as an ideal composer for a democratic society: an artist who created a homegrown aesthetic distinct from European trends."
-- New Yorker
Bibliographic Details
Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc
Published date: 1996
Size: 6.25 x 10 inches
Weight: 2 pounds
Pages: 525
Publisher's Notes
Composer Charles Ives is the defining figure in twentieth- century American classical music. In a rich, colorful, new biography, Jan Swafford looks at this towering, paradoxical figure and finds the consistencies lying beneath the protean surface. Using what he calls an "Ivesian" approach, Swafford sees the music and the life as forming a single story, one that is firmly rooted in Ives's Yankee background.
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