New Album Release

CHARLES E. IVES

FIRST SONATA FOR PIANO

JOHN NOEL ROBERTS, PIANO

Parma/Albany Records

THOUGHTS ON THE MUSIC

There is an overall programmatic aspect to the First Sonata for Piano by Charles E. Ives (1874-1954). The program as related to John Kirkpatrick, an early advocate of Ives’ music, states that “the family is together in the 1st and 5th movements; the boy is sowing his oats in the ragtimes – 2nd and 4th movements; and there is parental anxiety in the 3rd movement.”

The First Sonata was written between 1902 and 1910. These were formative years during the life of Charles Ives, and he often drew upon earlier pieces to be used in his compositions. Movements II and IV of the First Sonata were derived from Ives’ “Four Ragtime pieces of 1902-1904.” If one considers the stated program involving a wandering son leaving his united family in the first movement, sowing his wild oats in the second movement, causing familial anxiety in the third movement, continuing his wandering spirit in the fourth movement, and returning home to his united family in the fifth movement, there is a large epical quality about the First Sonata for Piano that influences every aspect of the composition.

The hymns quoted in each specific movement strengthen the programmatic aspect of the sonata and structure the composition as a large overall five-part arch form. A germ motive (a descending minor second and minor third) permeates the entire forty-minute sonata and hauntingly culminates the entire composition with a simple melodic statement of the motive where Ives wrote the words “God Bless Our Son” in the manuscript. Interestingly, with a slight alteration of a major second interval instead of a minor second, both the hymns Bringing in the Sheaves from the second and fourth movements and What a Friend We Have in Jesus have evolved from the same basic germ motive of the whole composition. Many of the original themes in the composition are related to the germ motive as well.

The most prevalent hymn quoted in the First Movement is I Was a Wondering Sheep with the words “I was a wand’ring sheep, I did not love the fold, I did not love my Shepherd’s voice, I would not be controlled: I was a wayward child, I did not love my home, I did not love my Father’s voice, I loved afar to roam.” Also quoted in the first movement is the hymn Where Is My Boy Tonight with the following text: “Where is my wandering boy tonight – The boy of my tenderest care, The boy that was once my joy and light, The child of my love and prayer?” The words in both hymns emphasize the theme of a son wandering from home.

Two written quotes from the manuscript of the first movement give insight into the further meaning of the music for Charles Ives: “What’s it all about – Dan S asks. Mostly about the outdoor life in Connecticut villages in the ‘80’s and ‘90’s. Impressions, Remembrances and Reflections of country farmers in Connecticut farmland” and the quote “Fred’s Daddy got so excited that he shouted when Fred hit a home run & the school won the baseball game. But Aunt Sarah was always humming a hymn - after Fred an’ John left for a job in Bridgeport – there was usually a sadness – but not at the Barn Dances with its jigs foot jumping & reels mostly on winter nights – In the Summer times, the Hymns were sung outdoors, Folks sang – as ole Black Joe - & the Bethel Band – Quickstep Street Marches, & The people like things as they wanted to say and to do things as they wanted to in their own way – and many old times…… there were feelings, and of spiritual Fervency!”

In the ragtime Second Movement, the wayward son is away from home sowing his oats. The hymns O Happy Day and Bringing in the Sheaves are strongly featured with ragtime rhythms. The larger form for the second movement is verse-chorus-verse-chorus. The chorus sections are based on the hymn I Hear Thy Welcome Voice with the programmatic related text “I am coming home, coming home to Thee. Wash me cleanse me in the blood that flowed on Calvary” taken from the hymn’s refrain.

The second verse of the second movement is titled In the Inn and reminds one of a trumpeter warming up with jazz licks outside a bar. Ives wrote in the manuscript of this movement “Anything Rollo – to kill those weak cissy(s) & don’t be bossed by some silly German lily ear velvet rule sounds.” It is notable that Ives wrote in the manuscript of this movement “if played fast some of the notes and reaches may be omitted.”

There is evident parental anxiety expressed for the wayward son in the middle Third Movement of this sonata. The soulful hymn What a Friend We Have in Jesus is the predominant quote used in this third movement with the related programmatic text being “What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer! O what love we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, All because we do not carry, everything to God in prayer!”

Typically, the altered versions of the stated hymn appear towards the beginning of the movements with a final more complete hymn statement occurring towards the end. This is appropriate for Ives’ philosophy that vagueness is at times an indication of nearness to perfect truth. Following the program of familial anxiety, Ives wrote in the manuscript of the third movement “as Grandma Parmlee is singing the hymn.”

The apparent clanging of bells with dissonant chords clashing opens the Fourth Movement of the sonata. Ives wrote in the manuscript of this movement “Not for the lilies lying back on soft dress circle crude cushions to lap up pretty velvet sound with their soft ears.”

As in the second movement, a ragtime version of the hymn Bringing in the Sheaves pervades this movement. Being a movement that programmatically depicts the wandering son sowing his oats away from home, the ragtime idiom is entirely appropriate. Using the hymn I Hear Thy Welcome Voice with the text “I am coming home, coming home to thee” for the final chorus of this movement, Ives wrote the following interesting instruction on the manuscript score “L.H. a little louder than R.H. as a kind of the nature sounds which like a tree toad sometimes is heard in the woods – a chronic beat, and over the outdoor singing. Hawks and crickets!.”

The Fifth Movement is literally steeped with myriad variations of the overall germ motive (descending minor second and minor third) for this grand sonata. The large sections in this movement alternate between Ives written quote of lively passages with “jigs foot jumping & reels mostly on winter nights” and slower sections that recall the reflective mood of “In the Summer times, the Hymns were sung outdoors.”

Keeping to the programmatic aspect of this sonata, the wayward son returns home to a united family in this fifth movement. The final Andante section presents a triumphant statement of the hymn I Was a Wandering Sheep with the text words “I did not love my Shepherd’s voice, I would not be controlled.”

Charles Ives uses the overall programmatic aspect to motivate his compositional choices for the germ motive, the hymn quotes, and the overriding five-movement arch form for his First Sonata for Piano. The entire sonata dissipates with a meditative statement of the “God Bless Our Son” three-note germ motive in an upper register. Here Ives is mystically placing a reminder of the musical essence of the entire composition. It is tempting to attach an autobiographical nature to the programmatic aspects of the First Sonata for Piano. Is Ives considering his own early personal experiences as a young man wandering from a united home and then returning home after the passing of time?

Such compositional unifying factors led Maurice Hinson to write that “this landmark of American piano literature has more cohesion than the “Concord” Sonata.” Following the premiere of the First Sonata, the Composer Wallingford Riegger wrote Ives an unqualified testimonial: “It was one of the few high spots in my whole musical career to have heard it….I still can’t get over the indescribable grandeur of your work.”

- John N Roberts

THE PERFORMER

John Noel Roberts has demonstrated his interpretive skills, technical ability and his wide-ranging piano repertoire in solo and concerto performances in Australia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, India, Italy, Great Britain, Japan, Canada and the United States. Highlights of his career have been recitals in Carnegie Weill Recital Hall, NYC, Teatro Olympico, Vicenze, and National Concert Hall, Taipei.

Atlanta Audio Society’s reviews of his Chopin and Brahms ACA recordings (CM 20099 and CM 20089) state that “his Chopin Third Sonata captures all the poetry, the variety and the pure depth of feeling that the composer invested in this work” and “Roberts’ strongly characterized performances strike just the right note. They are robust without losing any of the vital details in the music of Brahms.” Albany Records has released two compact discs of Roberts performing the predominately unpublished piano works of Alec Wilder (TROY 1294 and TROY 1886). A review of the Wilder recording in Textura March 2024 stated that “Wilder once averred that fifty percent of the success of any rendition of his music should be attributed to the expertise of the performer, and with Roberts he clearly hit pay dirt. The sensitivity of his touch and the artful poise of his phrasing do much to help distinguish the composer's writing.”

Roberts pursued undergraduate studies at the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester, where he was a student of Eugene List and Barry Snyder and was awarded the Performer’s Certificate in Piano. He continued graduate studies at the Yale University School of Music, where he earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree. At Yale, he studied with Claude Frank and Ward Davenny and won the Sprague Hall Competition. Roberts is a Steinway Artist.

Formerly Artist in Residence and Head of Music at the Western Australian Conservatorium of Music of the Edith Cowan University, Roberts has also served on the music faculties at Furman University South Carolina, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Mercer University Georgia, Stephen F. Austin State University Texas, and Concordia College Minnesota. Roberts currently serves on the music faculty at Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, Texas.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Producer, Engineer: Brad Sayles, Crescendo Recording, Houston, (218) 309-4947, brad@crescendorecording.com, www.crescendorecording.com

Recorded: March 9, 2024 at Diane Bennack Concert Hall, University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio

Piano Technician: Priscilla Rappaport, Austin

Piano: Steinway D 237402 (1926)

First Sonata for Piano is published by Peer International Corporation, New York

Cover artwork: Jeremiah Roberts

To Jason and Jeremiah

PROGRAM

First Sonata for Piano Charles E. Ives

(1874-1954)

I. Adagio con moto–Andante con moto-Allegro risoluto–Adagio cantabile

II. Allegro moderato–Chorus Andante-In the Inn Allegro–Chorus Con moto

III. Largo–Allegro-Largo

IV. Allegro–Presto–Slow

V. Andante maestoso–Più mosso-Adagio cantabile–Allegro-Andante ma con brio

The Music of Alec Wilder in New York City

Sunday, November 17, 2024, 3:00 pm

Greenwich House, 27 Barrow St., New York City

Honorary Host: John Noel Roberts

An Annual Celebration of the Life and Music of Alec Wilder

Sponsored by the Friends of Alec Wilder, Inc.

Featuring prominent NYC musicians performing the instrumental solo, chamber

music and songs of Alec Wilder

Alec Wilder successfully bridged a diversity of styles, writing fresh, strong, and

lyrical music for a myriad of musicians with significant careers and reputations. His

oeuvre includes popular songs, art songs, instrumental sonatas, chamber music

works, compositions for large ensembles, opera, film scores, and theater pieces. It

is a normal human impulse to want to categorize and label objects to assume that

one has reached a clarity of comprehension and understanding. However, such

categorizations can often be simplistic or even misleading. Alec Wilder’s music is a

product of his life philosophies mingled with the sounds of his time; whether

popular, jazz, or concert music. His merging of musical styles and genres is not

unlike several of his fellow Americans such as George Gershwin or Leona rd

Bernstein. His songs may appear in NYC night clubs as well as on formal voice

recitals, and his instrumental ensemble works enhance university recitals across

the nation. He inserts canons into his jazz pieces, warm popular harmonies into his

art songs, and syncopated jazz rhythms into his classical movements. His sound is

uniquely Alec Wilder and distinctly American.

Wilder valued beauty, aesthetic integrity, decency, virtue, wonderment, and

patience and deplored any decline of such values. He stated, “My concern is to

transmute the very best of myself into disciplined, loving, and if possible, witty

and civilized sound. I am interested in only those manifestations of art which, in

my estimation, emerge from a profound need to create and an absolute in sistence

upon a professional point of view.” Trusting his intuitive creative inclinations and

merging minimal traditional music studies with an absorption of the current

musical trends of his time, Alec Wilder was able to produce music that is

distinctively his own in concept and sound, a worthy achievement indeed.