• Login
    View Item 
    •   NWU-IR Home
    • North-West University Journals
    • TD The Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa
    • TD: 2007 Volume 3 No 2
    • View Item
    •   NWU-IR Home
    • North-West University Journals
    • TD The Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa
    • TD: 2007 Volume 3 No 2
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    ‘Music is Life’ – The influence of transcendentalist philosophy on Ives’s Concord Sonata

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    Page 239-263 (884.5Kb)
    Page 264-265 (925.7Kb)
    Page 266-270 (1.220Mb)
    Page 271-278 (924.5Kb)
    Date
    2007
    Author
    Weyer, W.
    Spies, B.
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    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.
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10394/3917
    http://dspace.nwu.ac.za/handle/10394/3605
    Collections
    • Faculty of Humanities [2042]
    • TD: 2007 Volume 3 No 2 [8]

    Copyright © North-West University
    Contact Us | Send Feedback
    Theme by 
    Atmire NV
     

     

    Browse

    All of NWU-IR Communities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsAdvisor/SupervisorThesis TypeThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsAdvisor/SupervisorThesis Type

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Copyright © North-West University
    Contact Us | Send Feedback
    Theme by 
    Atmire NV