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Article: Charles Ives and the Classical Tradition.
- Article from:
- Notes
- Article date:
- March 1, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Music Library Association, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Over the last twenty years, scholars of a revisionist turn have tackled the complex problem of "The Charles Ives Myth." Like most myths, this one has long been embraced with religious fervor and piety, for the Charles Ives of myth symbolizes the quest - now almost two centuries old - for an independent, American, musical identity, particularly an identity distinct from that of the Western European classical tradition, and yet on an aesthetic par with it.
The two books considered here might be viewed as summations of the revisions to date; they also mark the evolution of Ives from mythic to genuinely historic figure, and of his music from a body of revered, if ...