Ives - Symphonies

Tonight it's Ives. He proposed a Constitutional Amendment to let people directly draft legislation that Congress would cull and select for public referendum. Some say his first heart attack was brought on by a heated debate with FDR. Ives proposed issuing $50 bonds during the WWI effort and FDR, chairman of the committee, scoffed at the low value. He was going to hand out a pamphlet criticizing Too Much Politics in Our Representative Democracy at the 1920 Republican Convention, but the printer didn't finish them until the convention was over. He wrote music that no one wanted to perform during his life in his spare time, and paid for pretty much all his publications out of his own pocket. If it weren't for Copland, quite a few people would care a lot less today. He sounds like a kooky old lovable guy. 

I won't bore you with descriptions of all 4 symphonies, but i will say that the world he sculpts in symphonic sounds is much more noble, playful, thoughtful, and downright pleasant than the world i see most of the time; not without its difficulties certainly, but steadfastly optimistic all the same. He gave his money to other composers and musicians because he cared. Slonimsky would have had half a career without Ives.  If he were alive today, he wouldn't be because yesterday probably would have killed him. 

Perhaps, if you're looking for a productive use of your time this evening, give the first famous American composer a listen. I know i feel better for doing so.

... and, you know, you could retrieve his biography from the attic, if you want...