Son of Timatollah

Need an antidote to that fabulous/noisome Keith Emerson droning of yesterday? Try this: Charles Ives's "Variations on 'America'" performed by Tom Trenny at Trinity Church, NYC. This via Jeff Shaumeyer's current Beard of the Week.Jeff:

I like the flashy and silly, too, and this is one of my guilty pleasures: Ives' 'Variations on "America" ' for Organ; that's "America", the tune that starts "My country tis of thee…". Ives wrote these variations in 1891, when he was 17. The piece is frequently heard in an arrangement for orchestra made by William Schuman, but I much prefer the piquancy of it performed on organ.

I read an essay about the variations that called them "cheeky". That's probably true, but I don't think they go as far as "mocking". Ives treats the theme seriously enough and does up a clever set of treatments, including a very flashy and noisy toccata for a finale — watch for the pedal fireworks.

When I was in college, our college organist played this once on a recital. He hated the piece so he chose the most outlandish registrations he could think of, and it really bought the piece to life. For the finale he literally pulled out all the stops including the Zimbelstern (a little mechanical, tinkly bell device), which he happily left on and tinkling away when he left the organ bench at the end. Brilliant!

More information about Charles Ives can be found on the internet.

Happy Fifth of July!!

Labels: america, charles, ives, my country tis of thee, organization, tom, trenny, variations