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The writer thinks it is necessary to give a short background on Charles Ives specifically his
connection to the late Romantic literary figures: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne,
Henry David Thoreau and the Alcotts family, particularly Bronson Alcott, because they are
not only part of the 4 movements of the Concord, Mass., (1840-1890) piano sonata but
because they are New England Transcendentalists. Ives was an optimist, a believer in the
innate goodness of man and a moralist. In his Essays before a Sonata,1 he provided insights
into his philosophy of music, of composition and performance, at the same time pointing out
suggestions present in the work; Concord, Mass., Sonata. He felt that music was of two
kinds: that having substance and that having manner. Substance has something to do with
character. When a tune has substance, it comes from the soul. Manner has nothing to do at
all.2 The sonata was not written just because of the feelings or impression of Ives, rather it
was pre-conceived and incubated in his cerebral moments, attempting to present one
person's impression of the spirit in a more personal and idiosyncratic manner. From 18401860, this was revised a lot of times bringing forth the utmost desire of the composer to
express in music what these prolific writers have written in their books and what they have
believed and lived.
Movement 1: Emerson
It has no time signature for the first 7 pages, but there are barlines that divide notes that are
to be played according to Ivess instruction. Thus,
Movement 2: Hawthorne
The "Hawthorne" movement from the Concord Sonata may serve as an example of a piece
in which the derived materials (stylistic parody as well as direct quotation) serve, inter alia,
to connote a generalized American experience. Even without Ives's notes,5 we understand
1 Ives, Essays before a Sonata, ed. Howard Boatwright (New York, 1962).
2 Ibid., p. 77