[rodgersorgan] Re: Ives' Variations on America

Matt,

Registration for the Variations on America – what a loaded question!  I have 
performed this piece numerous times and have heard it played by many famous 
organists – here are some of my recollections:

E. Power Biggs -  I saw him play this live at a church in Savannah, Ga. He 
treated it like a Baroque Partita – very straight Principal Choruses, Cornets 
for solo lines, Positiv mutations for the lighter movements.  There was 
absolutely no sense of humor to his interpretation – very straight playing – as 
dull as possible.

John Obetz – Recorded on the big Aeolian-Skinner at the Reorganized LDS 
auditorium in Independence, Missouri.  Typical of Obetz, lots of big, bright 
sounds (reeds and mixtures) – still too “classical” for my taste.  His playing 
is very slow and metronomic, and also devoid of humor.

Richard Ellsasser – Far and away the best recording in my collection!  Played 
on 
the mammoth 144-stop organ at the John Hays Hammond Museum (castle) in 
Massachusetts, Ellsasser makes great use of the thunder and power of this 
orchestral organ.   Middle variations show off the orchestral colors quite well.

Virgil Fox – Recorded this work on a Wurlitzer theatre organ in Kansas.  He 
monopolized on the humorous aspects of the piece to compensate for the 
limitations of the organ.  I don’t recall ever hearing Fox play this on a 
“real” 
organ – too bad!

When I played this work, I tended to lean toward a warm, fat orchestral 
ensemble 
in lieu of bright mixtures and reeds.  I took an unusual approach to the 
polytonal interludes that seemed to work well (some organists omit them 
entirely 
because they can’t figure them out).  These two variations can be quite jarring 
to the audience – it’s no secret that Ives was fond of playing in two keys at 
once.  But here, I believe there was method to his madness.  Each polytonal 
variation is written with the right hand in one key and the left in another. 
These two keys just happen to be the key signatures of the preceding variation 
and the key of the upcoming variation.  I used a rather full ensemble 
(Diapasons 
8-4-2 with 8’ reed) on both the Swell and Choir – one hand on each.  I began 
the 
interlude with the box wide open for the manual in the key of the old variation 
– other box tightly closed.  As the interlude progressed, I slowly swapped the 
two expression pedals, closing the one in the “old” key and opening the one in 
the key of the upcoming variation until that tonality was dominant.  What a 
neat 
modulation that was!   For the Db variation, use whatever you have that makes 
the organ sound like a calliope – that’s what Ives intended.  I even used an 
obnoxious 16’ reed in the Pedal, which always drew a good laugh from the 
audience.   Also, make use of any extras on the organ – Chimes, Zimbelstern, 
bird call, train whistles – all are fair game!

By all means, make it fun for you and the audience.
Tom Alderman
Roswell, GA.


-- 
noel jones, aago
athens, tennessee, usa
423 887-7594
-------------------------------
frog music press, publishing MIDI music
moderator, rodgers organ users group
at www.frogmusic.com

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