Upon listening to Ives's Symphony No. 2, I get the impression that the music is marginally more upbeat than. For example, in the second movement it has these harmonies that sound happily curious. These harmonies bounce along with a certain march-like quality. Like was discussed in class, Ives absorbed a lot from being the son of a marching band director. The music sounds much more peaceful to the ear than that of Schoenberg, Berg, Webern, or even Stravinsky. The peaceful part that I'm referencing is the tranquil piece of the music that is in F major with the duetting flutes and the calm strings quietly accompanying in the background. To add more to the marching band aesthetic, the use of the triumphant brass instruments make for a surprisingly bold sound.
Every time the texture goes back into that soft F major tonality with the two flutes duetting starting on the notes F and A, it sounds like a familiar melody that I've heard before. It almost sounds like he's quoting the famous Dixieland March. Maybe it's just my ears. Toward the end of the movement, the same melody is played in the strings in A-flat major.
The third movement of the work starts an Adagio in F major, but carries a melancholy tone about it. I wonder what is going on here? I'm not sure what he's trying to emulate. Maybe the work at his business has him troubled and so he's pouring it out in his music, as most composers would. I really like the bold softness of the French Horns at the beginning of this movement. They make the texture of this particular section of music stand out with importance. They are so endearing to listen to.
The short fourth movement or section is particularly nice. The French horns starting in their high range are an awesome splash of color. I love how the horns signal the strings to start a harmonic texture in B minor and then work their way up through dissonances and consonances that sound remarkably like late eighteenth or early nineteenth century music. It's either that or the American marching band influence that make the harmonies clear and familiar. At least, to my ears, the sonorities sound familiar and very comforting.
In the fifth movement, there is more of the same with a triumphant march cadence and a dazzling French horn and violin solo. For the last half of the movement, the triumphant major comes back with the French Horn and then the trumpet echoing a familiar melody ( F, F, A, C, F, D, D, F, D, C or some variant of that melody). The texture drifts into different chords and keys, culminating with a fascinating military march style drum beat with the piccolo featured playing the melody in G major (D, E, F#, G, A, G, F#, E, D...). The piccolo melody succeeds on into a B major tonality with light chromatic activity. This tonality climbs into C major to feature the violins on this melody off of the beat ( E, D, C, B, A...) Before I can blink, the tonal center is back to F major with the triumphant horn melody (F, F, A, C, F...) in the trombone. The last half of the movement cuts out the majority of the bombastic and brilliant displays heard earlier in the movement. It resolves in F major with the flute playing (F, F, D, C, F, F, D, C...) with the viola countering on the melody F, A C, D, F, G, A, G, F, G, A, G, F, G... This melody also sounds oddly familiar to me. All of this familiarity is arising because the texture is truly American. Toward the end of this movement, I heard the melody F, A, F, C, C, F, A, F, C, otherwise known as the wake up call for the military. I am not too sure about the ending chord to the fifth movement though. It goes from this F major tonal material to a totally dissonant and clashing chord in the brass. What was he thinking there? May it's a glimpse of the weirder side of Ives. I may have to leave this question open ended.
Generally, I applaud Charles Ives and this work. It is understatedly American in its chord structures, march-like quality and sound. As a side note, I feel I can relate to Ives when he fell under depression, claiming he could not compose anymore. I have felt like this for much of the weekend. I have been mesmerized by this music and wish to know more on Charles Ives’s life in all of its glory and troubles. I can relate to him because I have some idea of how hard it is to continue following your heart as a composer.
