“Putnam’s Camp” from Three Places in New England
Flute, Piccolo, Oboe, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Bassoon, Horn, Trumpet, Trombone, 2 Percussionists, Harp, and Strings
8 Minutes
About the Composer
Born in Danbury, Connecticut on October 20, 1874, Charles Ives is regarded as the leading American composer of art music from the early 20th Century. He was born into one of Danbury’s leading families; his father made a career out of teaching, performing, and conducting music. From an early age, Ives was exposed to a wide range of music and studied both piano and organ. He became quite the accomplished performer of American vernacular music, Protestant church music, and European classical music. Although he studied piano and organ with a variety of different teachers, he studied theory and counterpoint with his father, who helped guide him through his first compositions.
In 1894 Ives went on to study at Yale University; however, just six weeks after he matriculated his father died suddenly of a stroke, dramatically altering the course of his life. While Ives studied music and composed actively throughout his time at Yale—finding a mentor in Horatio Parker—after graduating he found a job in insurance, where he would remain for 30 years. He never gave up hope of a musical career and continued to play and compose while he worked in insurance. Although there were periods of time when Ives had a tortured relationship with his music making, his compositional output continued to grow throughout the early 1900s. It is in this period that he increased his integration of vernacular and church music into his orchestra compositions, with pieces such as “Washington’s Birthday” (which you might have heard us play last season!)
About the Music
A Phoenix Phavorite, Ives has been featured multiple times over the past six seasons, including this past September at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, where we played the first movement from his renowned Three Places in New England. Written between 1903-1914 and revised in 1930, Three Places in New England received its premiere on January 10, 1931 by members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra at a New York Town Hall. Tonight you will hear the second movement, “Putnam’s Camp, Redding, Connecticut.” Born in modern day Danvers MA, General Israel Putnam led the America army with distinction at the Battle of Bunker Hill during the Revolutionary War. In this movement Ives paints a scene that takes place at the general’s winter camp. He envisions a boy who—while visiting the campsite on the 4th of the July—falls asleep and daydreams about the soldiers during the revolutionary war, only to be woken up by the sounds of the festivities.
The most complex of the three pieces, “Putnam’s Camp” illustrates Ives’s trademark use of collage in his music. Ives layers two separate marches, which at their climax literally collide into one another. Apparently Ives envisioned separate bands at a 4th of July celebrate playing these two marches. Throughout the movement complex and diverse textures create a variegated landscape that reflects the tumultuous nature of American life. Listen closely and see if you can pick out some of the patriotic tunes quoted by the composer.