The Transcendental Tuning of Charles Ives

The Transcendental Tuning of Charles Ives explains what this formidable composer intended for his music. It turns out Ives planned future performances of his music without any temperament. A century later his tuning, with as many as 29 notation distinctions, has been successfully realised through numerous performances by the American Festival of Microtonal Music under the direction of the author. For Charles Ives (1874-1954) a notated C sharp was pitched higher than a written D flat. Although it looks deceptive on paper, as if resembling classical tonality on a traditional piano, this 408 cent Pythagorean Ditone A–C sharp was his preferred major third. Ives’s profound intentions of microtonality, no keys, and no chord function were uniformly missed due to several important reasons that are carefully explored in this book. When examined from a knowledgeable microtonal perspective, Ives’s own words provide illuminating concepts that highlight something intrinsic to the composer’s thinking. Explanations for the fashioning of his titles, his intensely personal aesthetic, the controversial positions taken during his lifetime, and even answers to The Unanswered Question make sense in lieu of the new “spiraling fifths tuning” context. Furthermore, a theoretical analysis technique has been devised by the author to intelligibly analyse Ives’s unique approach to harmony. Aggregate chords, of as many as 19 notes, are transposed to the note “A” so that Ives’s originality may be on full display through comparable chord shapes. Most valuable is the innovative theory analyses of certain works: Universe Symphony, Concord Sonata, The Unanswered Question, Central Park in the Dark, String Quartet No. 2, Some South-Paw Pitching, Robert Browning Overture, The Cage, and Three Quarter-tone Pieces for 2 Pianos. © Vision Edition