Ives Catches a Few Maple Leaves on Their Way Down

For as wild and visionary as Charles Ives's music was, he retained a distinctly Romantic sentimentalism and nostalgia.  These feelings come most to the fore in his vast song output, some 150-strong and rippling with the mist that comes upon the eye.  While some of his songs have gained a modicum of fame for themselves, one of the lesser-known and -recorded ones struck me for its particularly Deep Fall qualities and expression of his mature voice.

It doesn't take long for Ives's personal, extended tonality to kick in, and the chords in bar three are pure Concord Sonata.  Ives's harmonies were formed by instinct and adventure, and so they retain a certain tonal structure while spinning into unpredictable ends.  The rhythms fall on in a three-on-four pattern, creating a hypnotic pulsation and evoking Autumn moments quite nicely.  There's a kind of bitter humor at the end, and the performance below brings it out with an impish gleam in its eye.  I guess this isn't Halloweeny per se but it's fine October leaf nonetheless.  And as it's passed the singing public by for a long time, it's as much a fallen leaf as the song's subject.  Happy Halloween from Forgotten Leaves!

~PNK