Book Review
Oct. 26th, 2011 12:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariThe Life of Charles Ives
by Stuart Feder
This short biography was quite good in that Feder really packs a lot of depth into less than 200 pages. Not only does Feder cover the facts of Ives' life, he delves into the various experiences and psychological elements that were important in the composer's life and work. Each chapter includes a discussion of a few pieces related to the events and ideas related in the biographical portion.
I especially liked Feder's treatment of Ives' nostalgia for and idealization of boyhood as experienced in a small New England town at the turn of the century, and how his relationship with his father plays into this. Feder also does a great job of exploring Gilded Age college life and its views on and promotion of masculinity, and how that affected Ives. Thus the book becomes not just an overview of Ives' life, but also an effective introduction to what made him and his music tick.
Feder does concentrate very heavily on the period of Ives' musical creativity, and gives fairly short shrift to the years after 1927. Although it would have been rather sad to read about, I would have liked more information on the later years and what happened after Ives stopped composing.
by Stuart Feder
This short biography was quite good in that Feder really packs a lot of depth into less than 200 pages. Not only does Feder cover the facts of Ives' life, he delves into the various experiences and psychological elements that were important in the composer's life and work. Each chapter includes a discussion of a few pieces related to the events and ideas related in the biographical portion.
I especially liked Feder's treatment of Ives' nostalgia for and idealization of boyhood as experienced in a small New England town at the turn of the century, and how his relationship with his father plays into this. Feder also does a great job of exploring Gilded Age college life and its views on and promotion of masculinity, and how that affected Ives. Thus the book becomes not just an overview of Ives' life, but also an effective introduction to what made him and his music tick.
Feder does concentrate very heavily on the period of Ives' musical creativity, and gives fairly short shrift to the years after 1927. Although it would have been rather sad to read about, I would have liked more information on the later years and what happened after Ives stopped composing.
