Composer Who Has Clung To His Own Way [Ives] 2/3/34

Some twelve years ago, a number of people interested in music noted the appearance of the name of Charles E.Ives as the author of curious volumes of music, unconventional to the eye, possibly bewildering to the ear. One was entitled simply, “114 Songs”; the other: “Sonata: Concord, Mass, 1840-1860,” with the movements, instead of conventional allegros and andantes, marked: I. Emerson. II. Hawthorne. III. The Alcotts. IV. Thoreau. To this Sonata a companion volume of essays was printed, entitled: “Essays before a Sonata.” A casual glance at the musical staves of the Sonata revealed columns of black notes “played by using a strip of board 14 3/4 inches long and heavy enough to press the keys down without striking.” And in the songs one came across a chord pointed by an arrow with the legend: “use Sat. night.” Decidedly, here was an unusual composer, and an unusual annotator.