Essays Before A Sonata

Essays Before a Sonata by Charles Ives is a collection of essays that explore the philosophical and musical ideas behind his composition, the Concord Sonata. The book is divided into three parts, with the first section discussing the relationship between music and the transcendentalist philosophy of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and other writers associated with the Concord, Massachusetts area. The second section delves into Ives' own compositional process, including his use of dissonance and polytonality. The final section is a series of reflections on the state of music in America, including the role of the composer and the challenges facing contemporary music. Throughout the book, Ives draws on his own experiences as a composer and performer to offer insights into the creative process and the nature of music itself. Essays Before a Sonata is a seminal work in American music history and a must-read for anyone interested in the intersection of philosophy and music.The substance of Hawthorne is so dripping wet with the supernatural, the phantasmal, the mystical--so surcharged with adventures, from the deeper picturesque to the illusive fantastic, one unconsciously finds oneself thinking of him as a poet of greater imaginative impulse than Emerson or Thoreau. He was not a greater poet possibly than they--but a greater artist.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.