Variations on "America"
Orchestra Version by William Schuman
by Charles Ives
Orchestra - Sheet Music

Orchestra Bass Drum, Bassoon 1, Bassoon 2, Bells, Castanets, Clarinet 1, Clarinet 2, Contrabass, Cymbals, Flute 1, Flute 2, Flute 3, Horn 1, Horn 2, Horn 3, Horn 4, Oboe 1, Oboe 2, Percussion, Piccolo, Snare Drum, Suspended Cymbal, Tambourine, Timpani and more.

SKU: PR.446411710

Orchestra Version by William Schuman. Composed by Charles Ives. Arranged by William Schuman. Large Score. With Standard notation. 32 pages. Duration 8 minutes. Merion Music #446-41171. Published by Merion Music (PR.446411710).

UPC: 680160096916. 11 x 14 inches.

Charles Ives' Variations on America was composed for organ in 1891. I heard it for the first time at the dedicatory recital of the organ in Philharmonic Hall at Lincoln Center on December 15, 1962. Even while Mr. E. Power Biggs was performing this composition, I began imagining an orchestra. By the time the piece was over, I knew that I simply had to transcribe it. The idea of making the transcription was easier than obtaining the rights. The first step was to secure permission from the musical curator of the Ives estate, and this was readily given. He turned out to be the American composer, Henry Cowell, who, curiously enough, happened to be sitting next to me at the dedicatory concert. Mr. Arthur A. Hauser, the patient past president of Theodore Presser Company, then spent endless hours apportioning the interests of the various parties to the contract; composers, publishers, performing rights organizations and, of course, lawyers. When finally I had the permission to proceed, I did so at once, and with the greatest enthusiasm. My intention was to make as effective an orchestral piece as I could possibly devise, without changing any of the musical materials. Therefore, I have taken no liberties with the harmonies or the melodies; all remain exactly as they were in the original. No percussion parts existed for the Ives organ piece, and these I invented for the orchestral version. Since the organ registration was itself rather inexact, I felt complete freedom in choosing registers which would fit the orchestral timbres that I had selected, and which would also give the necessary contrast to the different variations, as well as dynamic markings which would reflect orchestral needs and opportunities. I like to think that this version would have met with the approval of Charles Ives, and certainly I always had his aesthetic approach in mind. Henry and Sidney Cowell's biography, Charles Ives and His Music Oxford University Press, 1955) carries the following statement: An organ fantasia entitled Variations on America was played in organ recitals in Danbury and Brewster, New York in 1891. This work contained pages his father would not let him play at the Brewster concert because they had canons in two and three keys at once that proved to be unsuited to performance in church: they 'made the boys laugh out loud and get noisy.'...this is the earliest surviving piece using polytonality. My transcription of the Ives Variations is in honor of the 20th Anniversary of Broadcast Music, Incorporated, which organization commissioned the work.