Chamber Music Piano
SKU: PR.110418370
Composed by Charles Ives.
Arranged by Danny Holt.
Performance Score. 20
pages. Duration 8
minutes. Theodore Presser
Company #110-41837.
Published by Theodore
Presser Company
(PR.110418370).
ISBN
9781491135075. UPC:
680160686247.
Compo
sed as an organ solo by
the 17-year-old Ives for
his own performance
purposes, the beloved
Variations on America is
a treat for any occasion,
whether a holiday
concert, a serious
recital, or other special
event. Danny
Holt’s
transcription for Piano,
Four Hands adds a
dazzling new option to
play at home or on stage,
taking best advantage of
Ives’ tremendous
contrasts in color,
dynamics, and
texture.
Composed when
Charles Ives was a
teenager, Variations on
“America†is
both a convenient
introduction to
Ives’ body of
work, and an early
example of his
iconoclastic musical
voice and creative
genius. Just a few years
after composing this
piece, Ives would leave
home to study music at
Yale. But until then he
had been taught by his
father, George (who had
been a bandmaster in the
Civil War). George
subjected the young Ives
to experiments such as
singing a song in one key
while being accompanied
in another, or arranging
for two marching bands to
converge on a town
center, with the
resulting cacophony that
ensued.The Variations
exemplifies an early
period of experimentation
in Ives’ work,
spurred on by the unusual
pedagogy of his father.
The piece is particularly
notable for its use of
bitonality in the two
interludes, subtly
foreshadowing more
well-known examples by
Stravinsky, Bartók,
and others by
approximately two
decades.The bitonal
interludes were so ahead
of their time, in fact,
they were omitted from
the first copy that was
submitted to a publisher
in 1892. (Alas, the piece
was rejected even despite
these
“shockingâ€
elements having been left
out, and it wasn’t
published until more than
five decades later.)
There is some ambiguity
about when exactly Ives
added the interludes into
his manuscript copy,
though ample evidence
suggests he had performed
the piece with the
interludes around the
time he notated the piece
in 1891-92. In any case,
in light of this piece
and his other polytonal
explorations from the
last decade of the 19th
century, it seems fair to
give Ives credit for
being a pioneer in this
area!This arrangement for
Piano, Four Hands,
closely follows
Ives’ original
version for organ,
setting aside William
Schuman’s popular
adaptation for symphony
orchestra and William
Rhoads’ band
transcription of the
Schuman orchestration.
Pianists will find that
the piece translates well
to the instrument.
Ideally, the choreography
and logistics of
elbow-to-elbow four-hands
playing approximates the
wild joy one gets from
watching an organist play
the piece (e.g., the
elaborate pedal part in
the final variation).In
preparing this
publication, attention
was paid to details in
the dual Critical
Editions (Presser
443-41003) of both
Ives’ manuscript
edition and the 1949
publication edited by
organist E. Power Biggs
(who is credited with
discovering what had been
a long-lost, forgotten
work.) But as with much
of Ives’ output,
attempting to create a
true
‘urtext’
score is a futile
endeavor, and especially
with a piece such as this
one – in which
Ives incorporated
improvisation in live
performance –
seems unnecessary anyhow.
True die-hards are of
course encouraged to
consult the critical
editions and even find
inspiration in the
orchestrated version.
Generally, performers are
advised to be wild, have
fun, and not to be too
rigid in their
interpretive
choices.Dynamics in this
arrangement mostly follow
the organ score closely.
Pianists will use good
judgment about pedaling
throughout, which should
be straightforward and
intuitive. Courtesy
accidentals have been
provided frequently
– without
parentheses –
balancing the need for
extra clarity in the
context of Ives’
murky musical language,
and a desire to avoid
unnecessary clutter.A few
notes that might inform
interpretive
decisions:mm. 15-16:
There are inconsistencies
here between Ives’
original manuscript and
the 1949 Biggs edition,
regarding the top voice
in m. 15, beat 3 (C# vs.
Cn) and m. 16 (D Major
vs. D Minor).mm. 76-84 &
143-146: In both
Interludes, Ives
emphatically notates
extreme dynamic contrast,
in order to highlight the
bitonality. Although it
may seem counterintuitive
(or even a misprint, as
has apparently been
misconstrued by some),
performers are urged to
follow the
composer’s
marking!m. 109: Two-note
slurs have been added
here for clarity and
consistency with other
similar passages, though
they do not appear in
either the original
manuscript or Biggs.m.
112: The last two eighth
notes of Primo appear as
16ths in the original
manuscript.mm. 183-186:
The original manuscript
has a slightly different
bass line.mm. 184 & 186:
Primo gestures have been
re-written to be slightly
more idiomatic for Piano,
Four Hands.m. 186: The
breath mark at the end of
this bar does not appear
in either the manuscript
or Biggs, but is an
editorial suggestion
– aside from being
appropriately dramatic,
it will indeed be
necessary in a
reverberant hall!I would
like to thank Steven
Vanhauwaert, the other
half of my piano duo,
4handsLA, for his input
on early drafts of this
arrangement.—
Danny Holt, April
2022.
