‘Music is Life’ – The influence of transcendentalist philosophy on Ives’s Concord Sonata
Abstract
Although the Concord Sonata is traditionally regarded as a sonata, it is atypical of the
genre and is often considered as enigmatic. To understand this composition, a
transdisciplinary approach is essential by, more specifically, incorporating knowledge
of the philosophies of Transcendentalist authors Emerson, Hawthorne, the Alcotts and
Thoreau. Charles Ives set out the Transcendentalist ideas which influenced his conception
of this piano sonata in his Essays before a sonata. His view of musical structure is
based on the motto ‘Music is Life’, which he derived from their philosophy. The analysis
of the first and last movements of this sonata also facilitates access to the ideas of
Emerson and Thoreau. By linking the results of a musical analysis to extra-musical
knowledge from literary art, this article demonstrates how abstract ideas of the
Transcendental writers can be expressed through music. Interpretations arrived at in
this manner help to promote a better understanding of the work as a whole. This essay
shows how mediating between two different fields of knowledge and between knowledge
and understanding as complementary concepts can enhance understanding and therefore
appreciation of the music.
Collections
- Faculty of Humanities [2042]
- TD: 2007 Volume 3 No 2 [8]