◎ Thunder seedlings
Looking back at Western music creation, combining works with one's own life experience, it has become more and more ubiquitous since the Romantic period, such as Berlioz's "Symphony of Fantasy", Mahler's "Song of the Dead" and so on, all with a certain degree of autobiography. The Holiday Symphony (also known as The New England Holiday), an American modernist work addressed here, is no exception, and its subject matter stems from childhood memories in the mind of the modern American composer Charles Ives (1874-1954) of four holiday scenes in his hometown of Danbury. This is a memory of Ives's middle age, and for a composer, choosing to "recreate" these childhood experiences in the form of music is all too good. Undoubtedly, it also makes this work nostalgic.
From the mature period of Ives's creation, he made it his artistic goal to "express man's (often his own) experience in music", and the Holiday Symphony (1904-1913) was in this period. He firmly believes that "there is no exception to real art: it comes directly from the heart, from the experience, thinking and practice of life", and he also declares: "Music is life." (Another work of his contemporary, Three New England, also embodies the practice of his artistic goals.) So, how do you use music to describe the events that happen on a holiday day? How to express the mood of the holiday day through music? And what does it reflect what he considers to be "real American music"? This took Ives nine years or more (modified after 1913).
Next, let's follow the Holiday Symphony to "walk into" Ives's childhood holiday!
Winter: Washington's birthday
The music unusually begins with "Winter" and opens the first chapter of the symphony on the national holiday of "Washington's Birthday" (February 22 of each year):
The first part begins with a picture of a February night in the cold, snow-filled town of Danbury: older families sit around the fire to keep warm, while young people hike or sleigh across the mountain road and brave the snow to reach the barn on the outskirts of the town. Ives used what he did best— "borrowing tunes" — to correspond to these events, for example, when describing the old people who warmed by the fire, he chose the old American folk songs "Home, Sweet Home" and "The Old Man in the Family", while for the young people he chose the relatively lively folk song "Turkey in the Straw" and the dance song "Sailor's Horn Flute Dance".
The middle part is the most characteristic barn dance part of the movement, depicting people dancing in the barn after arriving: some dancing the phalanx (which flourished in the 19th century, a phalanx of four pairs of men and women, cheerful and lively), others dancing the ancient ragtam dance, some dancing the gig and lille (a brisk folk dance), and even waltzes. Here, Ives borrowed a large number of various tunes that were popular in the Danbury region at the time: "Sailor Horn Flute Dance", "Cannes Horse Racing Song", "For a Happy Good Friend for Him", "White Hat Badge", "Turkey in Straw", "Massa in the Cold Land", "Raccoon Suite", "Fisherman's Horn Flute Dance", "Here Comes the Campbell" and "St. Patrick's Day", among others. Ives, who wrote about this part, recalled:
In the hall of the barn, when the rest of the hall is a waltz, another group of people will dance a polka dance, perhaps a quadrill dance or a lancer square dance. Some of the players in the band improvise to match the polka dance, others with the waltz... Sometimes some violinists will change the rhythm due to drowsiness and lead to mixed beats.
The music in the last part slows down, at a very weak force (pppp), which also means that the day is coming to an end. Sad songs were sung, and the melody of "Home, Sweet Home" reappeared, after which the background was the violin playing the melody of the flute part gently, mixing "Pig City Music" with "Turkey in the Straw" and hovering between the two modes before the music disappeared. This may represent sounds from barn dance, or memories of a dance that just ended, ending in the tune of "Good Night, Ladies."
Spring: Decoration Day
The second movement commemorates the soldiers who died during the American Civil War (American Civil War, 1861-1865). Originally known as "Decoration Day" because flowers were used to decorate soldiers' graves on this day, it is now known as Memorial Day or Memorial Day, one of the official holidays in the United States, on the last Monday of May every year. This movement was inspired by the legendary experience of his father, George Ives ( hereinafter referred to as Georges ). "Decoration Day" is also one of the composer's personal works that is most relevant and expresses his sadness, because it is closely related to his sad memories of his friends, neighbors, and especially his own father. At that time, his country was still deeply affected by the civil war, especially the survivors of that generation, who took time out of their daily lives every year to recall and reflect. His father was one of the survivors, and George left his son with a strong association with his past experiences, which influenced Ives's entire life and made him a hero to his son. Although Ives was unaware of his father's true condition on the battlefield, the spirit and songs of the Civil War period had such a profound influence on him that he borrowed a large number of Civil War songs from Decoration Day: "The Cry of Freedom," "Camp Tonight in the Old Camp, and The Battle Song of the Republic"; the march "March Through Georgia," the Second Connecticut March, and "The Slow Procession"; the hymn "Sincerity Is Coming," "The Doomsday"; "Bethany"; the trumpet song "The Funeral Sabbath"; the folk song "The Merry Posthumous"; the folk song "The Slow March"; the hymn "Sincerity Is Coming", "The Doomsday"; "Bethany"; the trumpet song "The Funeral Sabbath"; the folk song "The Merry Song" Yankee Song" and "Lambeth". They are songs sung on Decoration Day in honor of the fallen soldiers.
This movement of Ives describes musically a series of events that took place on the day:
In the early morning, the gardens and woods of this village are the places where people with gentle memories and pious hands gather to collect flowers to commemorate the day... When the town hall was filled with picked spring flowers – lilacs, daisies and peonies – the procession slowly formed on the main street... The party marched to Worcester for public recruitment... After the last grave is decorated, the sound of the "lights out" passes through the pine and hickory trees, while the last hymn is sung. Then the procession formed again, and the people walked back to the town... The procession stopped, and the "Song of Flowers" in the early morning in the silence rose over the town as background music, and the sunset behind the West Mountain also added to the blessings of the day.
Summer: July 4
"It's a boy's July 4th."
The third movement is based on the national day of the United States and is another national holiday, but it cannot be ignored that the protagonist of this movement is Ives himself, and the boy also refers to himself. "It's the 4th of July for a Boy" is what Ives wrote in the general score of "The 4th of July":
There was no historical retrospective speech—no exaggeration of 'gradually formed' patriotic fervor, no festive performances in his courtyard, but he knew better than most village politicians how to celebrate. He chose his own path, and his nature was patriotism rather than aggression. His celebrations began in the silence before midnight, becoming noisy with the sunrise. Everyone knows the scene of this festival: cannons on the grass, country brass bands on the street, firecrackers, egg rolls holding ox leg meat, lines around the big toe, throwing cannons, church bells, lost fingers, screaming horizontal flutes, braised meat chowders, boxing tournaments with prizes, gong and drum teams, scorching sunshine, marching teams (the pace is not neat), the hotel is closed (drunkards are more than usual), baseball games... Flare guns, volunteer referees, red, white, blue, horses off the reins —the day ended in the light of the fires floating above the church spire: the annual fireworks that finally illuminated the town hall.
The above words are exactly the events and emotions that Ives wants to depict in this movement, and he recalls in his Memo: "I distinctly remember that when I scored these contents, there was a sense of freedom that I should have as a boy, and on the 4th of July he wanted to do whatever he wanted, and it was a day of his own." Perhaps because of this, he borrowed the most tunes in this movement, a total of 24 pieces, which contained various musical genres: patriotic songs, marches, folk songs, dance songs, and so on. The first thing he collaged in was the patriotic song "Columbia, Treasure of the Sea" and let it run through, and it also had another name, "Red, White, Blue", which was popular from the 19th century to the early 20th century, and until "Star Flag" was established as the national anthem of the United States (1931), the song was long used as the unofficial national anthem of the United States. Of particular note is the use of Ives's innovative compositional technique, "Cumulative Setting", in which he initially did not present the tune of Columbia, Treasures of the Sea in its entirety, but first through several fragmentary presentations, until the end of the piece.
Autumn: Thanksgiving and Ancestors' Day
"Thanksgiving and Ancestors' Day", the final movement of the Holiday Symphony, is also the longest and grandest of the four holiday movements. The chorus that Ives added to the epilogue brought the symphony to an appropriate end. "Thanksgiving and Ancestors' Day" are exactly two holidays commemorating the United States: one is Thanksgiving, which celebrates the first harvest in Plymouth, Massachusetts, on the last Thursday of November, and the other is Ancestors' Day, which celebrates the 1620 Pilgrim landing in Plymouth, Massachusetts, traditionally on December 21 or 22. Both holidays originate from the same historical event.
Interestingly, "Thanksgiving and Ancestors' Day" was first created by Ives, but it was placed in the last movement, and because of the nature of the festival, the tune that Ives borrowed here is mainly hymns, which undoubtedly gives this movement its original religious flavor. The composer also designed a "harvest" theme for this movement to commemorate the first harvest in Plymouth, Massachusetts, depicting the first harvest. It is worth mentioning that at the end of the piece, Ives did not extract a piece of the previous material and change it and end it in instrumental form, as in traditional instrumental music, but added a vocal, a hymn chorus of "O God, under your guidance" to complete the work.
In fact, this movement was a relatively early creation by Ives, who originally planned to write a symphony with the theme of "holiday" when he first conceived it. The whole time lasted for nearly a decade, and it is necessary to mention the nature of the composer's work here — he did not work full-time in music, but only in the busy insurance company work. Although "Thanksgiving and Ancestors' Day" belongs to the composer's earlier creations, it is full of vitality and strength, using complex composition techniques, full of innovative spirit, and exuding a strong festive color. In addition, the Holiday Symphony is a "set" work by Ives, and each movement can be played separately.