Ives leafs a Christmas Carol for the Eve

I've highlighted Ives's sentimentalism before on this blog, and nothing wells the tears of nostalgia in the American populace more than Christmas.  He had a real talent for weaving old popular tunes into crazy tapestries of sound and emotion, but his one Christmas song is surprisingly traditional, so traditional in fact that it could pass for a classic Christmas carol if tossed into a collection or on the radio.  And, unsurprisingly, it's called A Christmas Carol.

Even though the song appears to be Ripped from the Hymnbook, Ives includes a few small inventive elements to bring out an arrested, fragile pang in the heart.  The little rhythmic figure in the first beat of measure 3 turns into a leitmotif, stuttering the phrasing in measure 6.  Measure 8 is a Grand Pause, an achingly long time in the slow tempo and an illumination of Winter's enveloping silence.  The top of the phrase arc in measure 12 switches the time from a compound meter to a simple duple, giving the words an emphatic weight that works both with "hearts" and "die", awfully clever prosody considering Ives probably wrote the words.  Once measure 15 comes by the rhythmic leitmotif comes back, stuttering the phrases on expansive repeated pitches, allowing the Christmas sentiment to unspool across time and space.  Everything is piano or quieter, and the hushed quality brings the song's poignancy to the fore.  It's one of those rare songs that fits perfectly into a genre while commenting on the genre at the same time, as the piece is a normal hymn that's creative moments spark deep psychological notes.  It's title A Christmas Carol confirms that fact, as the listener is forced to admire it from the outside, treating it as a disconnected object rather than just another carol.  Either way you slice it the song is gorgeous, and best sung in the dead of night as a lone star pierces the heavens.  Even better if you're a countertenor like this singer.

Merry Christmas, and don't forget this lovely choral performance:

~PNK