Interval Cycles As Compositional Resources in The Music of Charles Ives

Society for Music Theory
Interval Cycles as Compositional Resources in the Music of Charles Ives

Author(s): J. Philip Lambert
Source: Music Theory Spectrum, Vol. 12, No. 1 (Spring, 1990), pp. 43-82
Published by: University of California Press on behalf of the Society for Music Theory
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/746146
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Interval Cycles as Resources
Compositional
in the Music of Charles Ives
J. PhilipLambert
Studentsof the music of CharlesIves over the past 20 years "Ives's reworkingof existing music is the single most central
have made convincingargumentsfor elevatinghis musicalquo- technique in his process of creation."3From this perspective,
tations to a level of structurefar above that of the musicalsur- much of Ives's music responds favorably to close analytical
face. Dennis Marshallprovided a seminal definitionof the is- scrutiny,and the incorporationand integrationof quotationsis
sue, asking whether borrowed materials are part of the revealed to be a vital organizingforce in a musical language
surface-level "manner"or are more integratedinto the "sub- breakingaway from tonality.4
stance"of a composition,1and analystshave since affirmedthat While Ives may have been a supremepractitionerof musical
Ives's quotations are more than tidbits of musical Americana borrowing,however, he was also a composerof complexinter-
added to enhance the nationalisticflavor.2Recently, J. Peter ests who refused to be confined to a single compositionalpos-
Burkholderhas identifiedand definedspecifictechniques,such ture. His methods of achievingmusical unity without tonality
as "modeling"and "paraphrasing,"that Ives employsin incor- may have relied heavily, and successfully,on "modeling"pro-
porating borrowed material, supporting the assertion that ceduresconcentratedon existingideas, but they also embraced
attemptsat developing a more abstractlanguage,independent
'Dennis Marshall, "Charles Ives's Quotations: Manner or Substance?" of any structuralframeworkthat borrowedmaterialmightpro-
Perspectivesof New Music6/2 (1968), 45-56; repr.in Perspectiveson American vide. Workswithoutmusicalquotationsmay receive some uni-
Composers, ed. Benjamin Boretz and EdwardT. Cone (New York: Norton, fying contributionsfrom textual or other extramusicalfactors,
1971), 13-24. Henry and Sidney Cowell addressthe same issues in CharlesIves but they might also pursue a structuralpurityborn of relation-
and His Music (1955; reissuedwith additionalmaterial,1969;repr. New York:
Oxford UniversityPress, 1975), 147.
2Somerepresentativestudies are Gordon Cyr, "IntervallicStructuralEle- 3J.Peter Burkholder," 'Quotation'and Emulation:CharlesIves's Uses of
ments in Ives's FourthSymphony,"Perspectivesof New Music9/2-10/1 (1971), His Models," MusicalQuarterly71 (1985), 20. See also Burkholder," 'Quota-
291-303; ChristopherBallantine, "CharlesIves and the Meaningof Quotation tion' and Paraphrasein Ives's Second Symphony,"Nineteenth-Century Music
in Music," Musical Quarterly65 (1979), 167-184; StuartFeder, "Decoration 11 (1987), 3-25.
Day: A Boyhood Memoryof CharlesIves," MusicalQuarterly66 (1980), 234- 4RobertMorgandiscussesIves's quotationsin this light in "RewritingMu-
261. For a typicalopposing view, see KurtStone, "Ives'sFourthSymphony:A sic History: Second Thoughts on Ives and Varese," Musical Newsletter3/1
Review," Musical Quarterly52 (1966), 1-16. (January1973), 8-12.
44 Music Theory Spectrum
ships defined contextually within the available resources. Central to the issues under investigationin Ives's experi-
While a single broadly defined process may characterizethe mentation is his focus on intervallicconstructionsas primary
creative evolution of an Ives composition, the organizational structuralcomponents. Even in his earliest compositionalef-
problems posed by the individualapproachesand solutionsin forts, the intervalprovidedthe meansfor constructingunortho-
variousworks are numerousand diverse.5 dox but orderlymelodic and harmonicstructures,often based
Indeed, it is in the works without quotationswhere Ives's on standard types of formations employing atypical units of
compositionalobjectives are most overt, his searchfor organi- combination. Ives recalls, for example, his father'ssuggestion
zational alternativesmost consistentlyapparent.These works that "If one can use chordsof 3rdsand make them mean some-
generallyseparatethemselvesfromthe mainbody of his music, thing, why not chords of 4ths?"9Ives took these and similar
distinguished by their searches for components of abstract suggestionsto heart, leading to his well-knownexperimentsin
structureand by their attention to technical detail. Ives gives "quartal"harmony, such as the piano accompanimentto the
many of them titles such as "Study" or "Exercise," making song "The Cage," and other instances of intervallicsatura-
clear that his compositional purpose is to work out technical tion.10Analysts have also noted more complex approachesto
problems.6He also refers to works of this type as "memos in intervallicstructure,such as a systemof permutationsof a cer-
notes," a phrasethat alludes to their unrefinedstate as well as tain intervallicprofilel and a processof shiftingfocusfrom one
the very private nature of his perspective on them.7 These interval or group of intervalsto another over the course of a
pieces are, in fact, "experiments"in musical organization-
musicalincarnationsof ideas about structurethat may receive
theirformulationonly in the courseof composingthe work. Al-
together Ives's experimentalworksform a distinctivesubset of by MaynardSolomon, "CharlesIves: Some Questionsof Veracity,"Journalof
his music, serving as a forum for the isolation and exploration the American MusicologicalSociety 40 (1987), 443-470. Solomon speculates
of specifictechnicalissues.8 that Ives exaggeratedhis father'sinfluenceas part of a mourningprocessthat
includedan idealizationof his father'smusicalinnovationsand a realizationof
some of his father's musical aspirations.Solomon discusses importantissues
5Burkholderfeels that Ives's "workingout of technicalproblemsand his about the Ives biography,but his views remainas questionsthat are left unan-
creationof musicalanaloguesto texts and to programmaticconceptionsfollow swered; any substantiationof his thesis will come only after extensive non-
the same patternas his elaborationof borrowedmaterial,"andthat the process speculativescrutinyof the availableevidence.
common to these activities would be the basis of a "unifiedview of Ives's ap- The conventionalview of Ives's debt to his father'sexperimentalattitudes
proachto composition"(" 'Quotation'and Emulation,"20, n. 36). Testingfor is describedby J. Peter Burkholder,CharlesIves: The Ideas behindthe Music
this hyphothesiswill come as each compositionalareais subjectedto thorough (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1985), 45-50. The author
investigation. makes a useful distinctionbetween "experimental"and "concert"music, em-
6Forexample, the piano pieces that fall in this categoryare entitled "Stud- phasizing the private nature of the former as opposed to an attitude toward
ies." Similarly, the song Soliloquy is entitled "A Study in 7ths and Other concertworksthat encouragesrevisionand refinement,ostensiblyleadingto a
Things." Also typicalis the subtitle to Chromdtimelodtune: "Ear-Study(aural publicpresentation.
& mental exercise!)." 9Ives,Memos, 140.
7CharlesE. Ives, Memos, edited and with appendicesby John Kirkpatrick 10Soliloquy,the "Studyin 7ths," is anotherexample.
(New York: Norton, 1972), 64. "Cyr, "IntervallicStructuralElements in Ives's FourthSymphony."Cyr's
8Ives'smemoirs describe an active influenceof his father on these experi- observations establish a link between the intervallic constructionsand the
mental attitudes, althoughthe reliabilityof Ives's accounthas been questioned structureof many of the tunes quoted in the symphony.
IntervalCycles as Compositional
Resources 45
work.12In maintainingan activeinterestin alternativesto struc- form a viable system of internallydefined pitch relationships
tural conventions, Ives took the interval as his primary re- and suggest fertile means for musical development and trans-
source, and the evolution of his experimentationcenters in formation.
large part on this element of musicalstructure. The descriptionof Ives's incorporationof intervalcycles in
This orientation,combinedwith an ever-presentconcernfor the followingpages cites evidence frommusicwrittenat various
maximizingpitch-classvariety, develops finallyinto an aware- stages in his composingperiod, primarilyincludingworks that
ness of the size and characterof repetitiveintervallicstructures, are of the experimentaltype, though not exclusiveto this cate-
viewed as cycles, andtheirpotentialfor compositionalexploita- gory. The discussioncenters firston cyclicrepetitionsof single
tion. Many of his experiments, including those exhibiting intervals, and then on alternatingrepetitionsof two different
higher degrees of technical sophistication,are centered on in- intervals,or combinationcycles.Each topic includesdefinitions
tervalcycles as contributorsto a contextuallydefinedharmonic of terminologyand establishmentof analyticalmethodology.A
language and a unified catalogue of developmental devices. final area of discussionillustratesparticularcompositionalap-
Ives thus allies himself, spiritually,with his contemporaries: plicationsof cycles, generallyin largermusicalcontexts.
Berg's "master array" of interval cycles, as described by
George Perle, and the role of cyclic structures in early CYCLES.
SINGLE-INTERVAL A linear pitch-class (pc) presenta-
Stravinsky as explained by Elliott Antokoletz, demonstrate tion translatesto a segmentnotated as integers (C = 0) sepa-
similarapproachesto intervallicconstruction.13As an alterna- rated by commaswithin angled brackets.14The adjacentinter-
tive to traditionalcompositional resources, the intervalcycles vals, or ordered pitch-class intervals, form the INT of a
segment, notated as integers (1-11) separated by dashes and
enclosed in angledbrackets.15Example1 illustratesthe applica-
12Nors S. Josephson, "Charles Ives: Intervallische Permutationen im tion of these notations to a violin line from Ives's Largo Riso-
Spatwerk," Zeitschriftfur Musiktheorie9/2 (1978), 27-33. Josephson'sstudy luto No. 1 (1906).16An INT containingexclusiverepetitionsof
encompasses works of various types from all periods of Ives's compositional
career.
13GeorgePerle, "Berg's Master Array of the Interval Cycles," Musical 14Theterm segmentis used here as definedin Robert D. Morris, Composi-
Quarterly63 (1977), 1-30; Elliott Antokoletz, "IntervalCyclesin Stravinsky's tion with Pitch Classes:A Theoryof CompositionalDesign (New Haven and
Early Ballets," Journalof the AmericanMusicologicalSociety34 (1986), 578- London: Yale University Press, 1987), 37, 64. Morris defines segments of
614; Marianne Kielian-Gilbert, "Relationships of SymmetricalPitch-Class pitches (pseg) and pitch classes (pcseg). A segment is orderedby definition.
Sets and Stravinsky'sMetaphor of Polarity," Perspectivesof New Music 21 15Anordered pc interval, or directedintervalin Milton Babbitt'sterminol-
(1982-83), 209-240; Menachem Zur, "Tonal Ambiguities as a Constructive ogy, is calculated by subtracting(mod 12) the first pc from the second. See
Force in the Languageof Stravinsky,"Musical Quarterly68 (1982), 516-526. Morris,62 and John Rahn, BasicAtonal Theory(New York: Longman,1980),
Cyclic intervallicrepetitions are also central to the studies of Bart6k by Erno 25-27. The term INT is defined in Morris, 107.
Lendvai, The Workshop of Bart6k and Kodaly (Budapest: Editio Musica, '6Dates of composition are those given by John Kirkpatrickin The New
1983)and by Elliott Antokoletz, TheMusicof Bela Bart6k:A Studyof Tonality Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 6th ed., s.v. "Ives, Charles E."
and Progressionin Twentieth-Century Music(Berkeley: Universityof Califor- These dates are primarilybased on evidence from Ives's scores and memoirs,
nia Press, 1984). Another composerfrom this period who workedwithinterval although the reliability of these sources has been questioned by Solomon
cycles is KarolSzymanowski(1882-1937); see Ann K. McNamee, "Bitonality, ("Questions of Veracity"). Until Solomon's questions and speculations are
Mode, and Interval in the Music of Karol Szymanowski,"Journal of Music subjected to further analysis, Kirkpatrick'sdates representthe most accurate
Theory29 (1985), 61-84. informationavailable.
Example 1. Largo Risoluto No. 1, mm. 24-25, first violin. tions often take this form, bringing the scale, and thus the
3 25 interval-1 or -11 cycle, to its completion in a melodic setting
A I4
I
-I-
J
>I
r rL )- ^
,>
^ 6.- _ I ,^ that either reverses directions frequently, producing linear an-
3
Y
gularity, or moves in the same direction to cover a large regis-
L3L I i 3I tral span. The early sketch shown in Example 2a employs the
pc <4, 9, 2, 7, 0, 5, 10, 3, 8, 1, 6, 11> <4,...
"wide jumps" technique in a melodic line with direction
INT <5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5>
changes, establishing a displacement pattern in the first mea-
sure that is duplicated a fourth higher in the second.19 Example
a single intervalgenerates a segment that is cyclic in that it re- 2b gives a portion of the piano part to the song Soliloquy that
turnsto its point of origin;the repetitionof interval5 in Exam- employs the unidirectional approach, stating scale segments
first with interval 1 (pitch interval 13), and then with interval
ple 1 is an interval-5cyclethat generatesthe returnof pc 4 at the
downbeatof m. 25.17The numberof pcs generatedby the cyclic 11. The second arpeggio (mm. 4-5) presents six pitch-classes
that are not stated in the arpeggio of the previous two mea-
repetitionof a given intervalis the cardinality,or CARD of the
cycle, which totals 12 in Example 1, a completionof the aggre- sures, leaving only pc 0 absent from the upper voice of the
gate. The familiarcyclic pitch-classstructureshave CARDs of passage.20
12 (interval-1, -5, -7, or -11 cycles), 6 (interval-2or -10), 4 Ives's best-known incorporations of the whole-tone scale
are in the Finales to the Second String Quartet (1907-13) and
(interval-3or -9), 3 (interval-4or -8), or 2 (interval-6).The or-
der of presentationof the pcs generatedby a cycle may be indi- Fourth Symphony (1909-16). Both works conclude with thick,
cated by italicized integers representingorder position (op), layered textures of repeated figures above reiterated whole-
tone scales, producing an arrival point of stability that repre-
extendingfrom 0 for the initialpc to CARD-1for the last.
Ives's interest in cyclic structuresoriginates with the in- sents a kind of resolution of the many musical and extramusical
stances of chromaticand whole-tone scales appearingin music conflicts that have previously been prevalent.21 The beginning
from various stages of his life. In his Memos, he describesan
early, father-influencedexercise in which he played the chro- 19Thesketch appears in Charles Ives's hand in George Ives's Copybook.
matic scale with octave displacements,creating"widejumpsin See John Kirkpatrick,A TemporaryMimeographedCatalogueof the Music
the counterpointand lines."18Ives's chromaticscale presenta- Manuscriptsand Related Materialsof CharlesEdward Ives 1874-1954 (New
Haven: Libraryof the Yale University School of Music, 1960), 214, Cat. No.
7A2. The paginationof the Copybookis Kirkpatrick's.The catalogue(p. 214)
Notes in brackets in musical excerpts are correctionsof misprintsin the lists the probabledates for Ives's sketchingsin the Copybookas 1890-93. This
published score, confirmedthroughcomparisonwith the originalmanuscript scale setting reappears on p. [71] of the Copybook in a short organ work
(housed in the Ives Collection at Yale). Kirkpatrickcalls "BurlesquePostlude"(Kirkpatrick,Catalogue,219, Cat. No.
17Morrisdefines a cycle (pcyc and pccyc) more generally to apply to any 7C6). Ives uses the scale in canon, precededby chromaticlines in contrarymo-
reiterative segment, regardlessof whether an intervallicrepetition occurs in tion.
the INT (pp. 37, 65). The resultingintervallicsuccessionis the cyclicINT, or 20Similartechniquesappearin Overthe Pavements(1906-13), mm. 81-92,
CINT(pp. 40, 107). piano, and in four worksnamed by Kirkpatrickin Memos, 44, n. 5.
18Memos,44 (and musical example). Kirkpatrickrecalls that "Ives told 21Ives'stitle for the finale of the Quartetis "The Call of the Mountains,"
George Roberts [one of his copyists] that his father had him do chromatic indicating that the "4 men" personified by the instrumentshave concluded
scales with each intervala minor 9th" (Memos, 44, n. 5). their "Discussions"of the firstmovement and "Arguments"of the second and
IntervalCyclesas Compositional
Resources 47
Example 2. "Widejumps"treatmentof the chromaticscale. parts contribute to a minimizationof temporal qualities, sup-
a. George Ives's copybook, p. [68]. porting the projection of an ethereal, spirituallytranscendent
qualityfor the conclusionto the work.22
Two basic features of the chromaticand whole-tone scales
are relevantto Ives's pitch structuresin general. First,the com-
pc<0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 10, 11, 1, 0> plete uniformityof intervalsizes in the scalesis a desirablechar-
acteristicthat Ives exploits to highlightthe effects of repetition,
b. Soliloquy, mm. 2-5, piano. as at the end of the Second Quartet, and to create a consistency
A A of pitch structurefrom intervallicsaturation.Applied to other
intervals, repetition may generate pitch materialsthat are less
attractiveowing to their tonal connotationsand low cardinal-
' 4 A1 ity; this may be true of the repetitions of intervals3 and 4 or
I"'18 18
1> 18
^^ IL ^ 18 theirinverses, and of interval6. However, intervals5 and7 pro-
i\if
vide rich resources for harmonic saturation and have been
widely used to ensure nontraditionalconstructionaluniform-
upper-
voice v
va- - J loco 8va ity.23Ives views his song "The Cage," for example, as "a study
pc: <1, 2, 3,
4, 5> < 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6> of how chordsof 4ths and 5ths may throwmelodies awayfroma
INT: < 1-- 1- 1 - 1> < 11-11-11-11 - 11> set tonality," noting that "To make music in no particularkey
has a nice name nowadays-'atonality.' "24
The second influentialfeatureof the scales, as for any of the
cycles, is their insurance of pitch-class variety, or non-
of this section of the Quartet, shown in Example3, is anchored repetition. Ives's concern for avoidance of pc repetition allies
on the repetition of the scale in the cello, forminga seven-beat
ostinato that is noncoincidentalwith the one-measurepattern
in the viola, the ten-beat ostinato in the second violin, and the 22Thesefactorsdemonstratethe "spatial"qualitiesof Ives'smusicobserved
fragmentof the tune "Bethany"in the firstviolin, all of which by Robert Morgan, "SpatialFormin Ives," in An Ives Celebration:Papersand
supporta tonal center of D (see bracketsin Ex. 3). The absence Panels of the Ives CentennialFestival-Conference,ed. H. Wiley Hitchcockand
of rhythmic variation in the whole-tone presentation in the Vivian Perlis (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1977), 145-158. Morgan
cites, among other factors, "fragmentation"and "the simultaneouscombina-
cello, the lack of intervallicvarietyin the cello's repeatedmate- tion of two or more independent, though related musicalcontinuities"as con-
rial, and the avoidance of metric correlation with the other tributorsto spatial effects, both of which would apply to this passage in the
Quartet.
23Thisis the intent of Schoenberg, for example, in the chapter entitled
have now walked "up the mountainsideto view the firmament!"(Kirkpatrick, "Chords Constructed in Fourths," in Theory of Harmony, trans. Roy E.
Catalogue,60). Ives describesthe Finale to the Symphonyas "an apotheosisof Carter (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978), 399-410. See also
the preceding content, in terms that have something to do with the reality of "Chords by Fourths," in Vincent Persichetti, Twentieth-CenturyHarmony
existence and its religiousexperience." See CharlesE. Ives, "TheFourthSym- (New York: Norton, 1961), 93-108.
phony for Large Orchestra,"New Music Quarterly2/2 (January1929):[ii]. 24Ives,Memos, 56.
,
48 MusicTheorySpectrum
Example 3. Second StringQuartet,thirdmovement,mm. 123-126.

Adagio maestoso 125
8va .. .-----------
-- - -, 3 3 3
, Otlt -a It9Rt -e iff: -&
i I I I I Ir I I I
v
ff
ff a n_ I
EXtt
3 - ,,--_ 3 ---
r-----3 - 3-- -- 3 -
ir i rIT T i
ff I I
fl-I
F T' t?- F t
dJu
I --4 I
a rI. f4w
I
-E- -.
ff
him with his friend CarlRuggles, who is saidto have advocated The union of intervallicuniformityand pitch-classvariety
statingat least "seven or eight differentnotes [pitchclasses]in a may yield a plan of organizationfor melodicor harmonicstruc-
melody" before introducinga repetition.25The composeris as- tures. In a brief sketch that Ives gives the title Song in 5's, for
sured of maximal pitch-class variety, without repetition, in example, chords of stacked fifths are related throughassocia-
chromaticcompletionsand in structuresbased on intervals5 or tion with a generating interval-5 cycle.27The sketch, tran-
7, such as the melodic line illustratedin Example 1. Methodical scribedin Example 4, consists of four sonoritiesconnected by
generation of the aggregateis also possible in a complementa- an upper melodic line that is itself a whole-tone pentachord,a
tion of the other cycles, such as, for example, a combinationof combination reminiscent of the juxtaposition of chords in
pitch classes from "odd" and "even"whole-tone scales.26 fourths with a whole-tone melody in "The Cage." The pitch
classes in the lowest voices of chords1 and 2 connectto the up-
per voices of the ensuing chords as continuations of the
2sHenryCowell, New Musical Resources(1930; repr. New York: Knopf, interval-5cycle indicatedbelow the score. Aggregate comple-
1950), 41-42. See Steven E. Gilbert, "The 'Twelve-ToneSystem'of CarlRug-
gles: A Studyof the Evocationsfor Piano,"Journalof Music Theory14 (1970),
68-91.
26DaveHeadlamdefines this type of complementationas an "extension"of 27Kirkpatrick,Catalogue,226, No. 7E38. The compilerdoes not suggest a
an interval cycle in "The Derivation of Rows in Lulu," Perspectivesof New date for the sketch. It appears within materials relating to the "Thoreau"
Music24/1 (1985), 203. movement of the ConcordSonata, which was composed around1910-15.
Resources 49
Example 4. Song in 5's. scale, eventually stating an augmentedtriad on each of the 12

chord 1 2 3 4 possible roots.29
Because each pc representationof an interval-4cycle is sym-
metricallysituatedwithinone of the whole-tone scales, the lin-
:s .n7 : e ear whole-tone presentationmay be viewed as a gradual"un-
folding" of alternate members of the interval-4 cycles.
d 3
'
bI: b6 Correspondingly,the augmentedtriadsbuilt above each scale
[7]
step alternateappearancesas notated below the score in Exam-
ple 5: cycles I and III alternatein the initialdescent (mm. 1-4)
chord: 1 2 3 and cycles II and IV alternate in the subsequentascent. Each
2, 0, 5 5, 10, 3, 8, 1 1,6, 11, 4>
cycle exhibitsa complete rotationof its verticalarrangementto
pc<9, 7,
exhaustthe possible augmented-triadroots and thus the aggre-
INT <5 - 5 -5 -5 . . . 4
gate. Cycle I, for instance, moves from pc <0,4,8> in m. 1 to
<8,4,0> in m. 2 and to <4,8,0> in m. 3. The passagethus be-
comes saturated with cyclic formations from the horizontal
tion is achieved in chord 3, followed in the final sonority by a
whole-tone cycles (interval-2or -10) and their supportof verti-
repetition of pitch classes from the latter partof the cycle. cal interval-4cycles undergoingregularpatternsof rotation.
In the early choral work Psalm 54 (1894?), a bidimensional
The excerptfrom Psalm54 in Example5 is typicalin thatthe
projection of repetitiveintervallicstructuresexploits the circu-
purewhole-tone saturationin the lower voices providesa cyclic
larityinherent in the materials,achievinga more extensive ex- frameworkfor a process of embellishmentin the uppervoices
position of cyclicideas than in similarpassagesfromthe Finales that introduces pitch classes from outside the prevailinghar-
of the Second StringQuartet and FourthSymphony.Example
monies. The cycle thus serves a role that mightbe fulfilledby a
5 is a reduction in short score of the first of the seven verses,
diatonic scale or scale segment in a tonal context. This ap-
which exhibits a patternof half-note chordsin the lower voices
embellished by added notes in the uppervoices. This same ar- proach is also evident in Ives's music as an embellishmentof
repetitiveintervallicstructuresthat do not reachcycliccomple-
rangement is used in the setting of verse 2 (mm. 7-13) and
tion, includingpassages based on seconds, fourths, or fifths as
againin the setting of the finalverse (mm. 44-57) withthe roles controllersof linear motion.30
exchanged (half-note chords in the upper voices, and so
forth).28The upper embellishments(circledin Ex. 5) decorate
a lower-rangeprojection of augmentedtriadsrooted on notes
of the descending whole-tone scale, completingan octave de-
29Thepassage is describedsimilarlyin H. Wiley Hitchcock,Ives:A Survey
scent at the downbeatof m. 4. The projectionof the triadsthen of the Music (London: Oxford UniversityPress, 1977; repr. New York: Insti-
reverses direction and shifts to the complementarywhole-tone tute for Studies in American Music, 1983), 29-31. The chords could also be
viewed as resulting from three whole-tone scales moving in parallel major
thirds.
28Verses3 through 6 are set in a contrastingcontrapuntalstyle employing 30See,for example, the embellishmentof an interval-5sequence in the first
double canon. movement of the Second StringQuartet, mm. 28-33, firstviolin.
Example 5. Psalm54, mm. 1-6.

Save me, O God, by thy
[Largo maestoso]
I III I III I III
name, and judge me by thy strength,
I II IV II IV II IV
I. <0, 4, 8> II. <1, 5, 9> III. <2, 6, 10> IV. <3, 7, 11>
Embellishment techniques also help interpret passages beneath several of the scale steps, combiningthe intervalsof a
where, unlike the Psalm54 excerpt, the underlyingcycle is less fourth or fifth plus a tritone to accompanythe participantsin
explicitly stated within the texture. An elaboration of an the chromaticdescent.
interval-11cycle, realized as a descendingchromaticscale, oc- The circled notes in Example 6a follow the descent of the
curs in the passage from Ives's Study No. 20 (1908?) given in scale down a fifth in the right hand to F#5 in m. 8. Singularly
Example 6a, spanning eight bars and reachingcompletion in absent from the scalar unfolding is pc 9, which occurs as the
the bass registerfour octaves below its initialpitch. The chro- bass grace note in mm. 6-8 and as the pedal startingin m. 1 of
maticdescent beginswith the C#6 in beat 1 of m. 6, statedas the the Study.Example6b summarizesthe descentplusthe accom-
top note in an instance of 3-5 [0,1,6].31This trichordappears panying3-5s, incorporatingthe missingpc 9 in its appropriate
position and actualregister.When the line transfersto the left
hand in m. 9, two scale tones are stated simultaneouslyas part
31Set-classlabels throughoutthis articleare those of Allen Forte. See The
Structureof Atonal Music (New Haven and London: Yale University Press,
of a 3-5 and are subsequentlyreiteratedin the bass of m. 10
1973), Appendix 1(179-181). (the reiterationis enclosed in bracketsin Ex. 6b). The remain-
Resources 51
Example 6. StudyNo. 20, mm. 6-14.

a.
a. tem~
tmpo pnmo
06 1 14i 2 13
- "
l^^r ,^1 dlJ '^n^ rK ^n
-'
J l^ ^
-TI n i ,J ,~ I I i ,
der of the descent is accomplishedby successivetranspositions steps in the chromaticline, contributingto the associationof
of a three-beatpatternin the left handthatincludesthis reitera- pitches that are registrallyseparatedas part of a unifiedstate-
tion and comes to rest on the 3-5; the firststatementof the pat- ment of the cyclicpitch source.
tern is m. 10 through the first beat of m. 11, bracketedbelow Other embellishmentproceduresalter a sourcenot through
the score in Example 6a. Since each three-beat unit is trans- additionof notes surroundingthe cyclicunfoldingbut through
posed down a half step, the descent continues with each new rearrangementof the pitch classes of the source alone. A cycli-
transpositionlevel, as highlightedby the stemmednotes in Ex- cally generated pc set is thus used as an unorderedcollection
ample 6b. After arrivingat C#2 on the thirdbeat of m. 13, the that provides materialfor a melodic or harmonicsetting. With
pattern returns to its original pitch level, with mm. 14-17 re- cycles of cardinality12, the source providesa convenientpoint
peating mm. 10-13 exactly. of departurefor aggregateconstructions;Ives typicallyretains
The adjacent intervals forming the 3-5s beneath the scale featuresof the source so that the originsof the materialare im-
tones, as notated in Example 6b, reverse their positions in the mediately apparent.A principaltheme in the RobertBrowning
course of the presentationfrom 7 above 6 at the firsttwo scale Overture(1908-12) employs a displacementof a single pitch
tones to 6 above 7 in m. 7 and in mm. 9-13, portrayingthe final class within the generationof an interval-7cycle, producingan
left-handtrichordsas mirrorsof the firsttwo in the righthand. aggregate ordering and an INT of <7-7-2-7-7-7-7-7-7-11-8>.
These trichords, which also include chromatic intervals be- One transpositionof this theme, for example, is an alterationof
tween the outer notes, provide a consistent characterfor the <3,10,5,0,7,2,9,4,11,6,1,8>, a strictrepetitionof interval7, to
Example 7. Three-PageSonata, derivationof left hand, ceive emphasisat the beginningof m. 79 fromthe repetitionof
mm. 77-79. pc 8, matchingthe repetitionof pc 2 in m. 77; this reinforcesa
less direct connectionwith the source cycle in the latterpart of
a. source
interval-5 op 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 the pattern.
p
cycle -- Ives's most extensive and most systematicallycomprehen-
?t0 t
cycl
4:0 ? b"o to f lo o sive employment of single-intervalcycles occurs in the early
pc 9 2 7 0 5 10 3 8 1 6 11 4 choralwork Psalm 24 (1894?).34The setting of each of the ten
verses is based on a mirroringof inversionallycomplementary
cycles that makes possible a gradualregistralexpansionor con-
b. left pc 9 2 7 0 5 6 1 4 10 8 3 8 11 traction, simulatinga registral"wedge"between lines moving
hand,
mm
mm. 77 3 r 3- .-- 78
7 ---3 r-- 3 79
----- 3- in contrarymotion. Typically,a mirroringof a given cycle will
--
77-79 Ir , provide the pitch-class source material, or "model," for the
KI . r
verse, while the actualpitchrealizationmay employ octave dis-
- --
INT <7-5--5 5--1-7-3- 10-7-5-3>
placementsto obscurea literalregistralenactmentof the wedge
shape. In the pitch-classmodel, the graduallinearchangespro-
duce gradationsof verticalintervalsizes and a consistentsym-
produce <3,10,5,7,2,9,4,11,6,1,0,8>, accomplishedby mov- metricalaxis, while octave variationson the patternin the mu-
ing pc 0 from op 3 to op 10.32 sical settings disrupt the vertical intervallic regularity and
A pitch-classsuccessionin Ives's Three-PageSonata (1905) mobilize the axis of symmetry.
employs a more extensive reorderingin an aggregateconstruc- Verse 1 of the Psalm, for example, is basedon the mirroring
tion while still retaininga displayof elements of its intervallic of intervals1 and 11 outlinedin Figure1. This chromaticwedge
source. Example7a displaysthe interval-5cycle that servesas a expandsthe verticaldistancesbetween voices in incrementsof
point of departurefor the aggregateof Example7b (the finalpc two from 0 to 24. Ives's realizationof the model, however, em-
2 of m. 79 begins a repetition of the pitch-classmaterial).33Af- ploys the "widejumps"technique(see Example2), so that the
ter five pitch classes drawnwithout variationfrom the source, cyclic model determines only the pitch-class content of the
the line presents pc <6,1>, or a reversalof sourceops 8 and 9, voices involved, not a pitch-specificregistralpattern.Example
followed by pc 4, which is the finalnote in the source, and then 8 is a two-stave reduction of verse 1, illustratingthe octave-
pc <10,8,3,8>, a rearrangementof ops 5, 6, and 7. The INT displaced cycles of intervals 1 and 11 in the outer voices, sup-
notated below Example 7b illustratesthe presenceof interval5 ported by chromaticlines in the inner voices. In the first two
andits inverse7 withina sequencethat also includesintervals1, measures, the octave displacementsare themselves mirrored:
3, 6, and 10. Withinthis intervallicvariety,intervals5 and 7 re- both sopranoand bass shiftto outer octaves at the firstchordof
m. 2, emphasizing the word "Lord's." Because both voices
32Thisoccurs in the cello, mm. 50-52. The firstpresentationof this theme
(bassoon and trombone, mm. 46-49) has some pitch inaccuraciesthat prevent 34Asis the case with Psalm 54, Ives probablyworkedon Psalm24 with his
aggregatecompletion, probablythe resultsof copyingor calculationerrors. father around 1893-94, though no specificrecollectionof a collaborationap-
33Inthe original, this line is doubled an octave lower. pears in Memos or elsewhere. (See Memos, 47.)
Resources 53
Example 8. Psalm24, verse 1, two-stavereduction.
The earth is the Lord's and the ful- ness there-of, the world and they that dwell there - in.
1i 2 3 4 6 ^
ÔF^^r .. -
Figure 1. Pitch-class model of Psalm 24, verse 1 (mm. 1-6).
int. 1
cycle: 10 11 0
12 3 45 6 789
int. 11 0
11 10 9 8 7 6
cycle: 5 4 3 2 1 0
vertical
distance: 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 44
shift, the symmetrical axis remains stable (at C4). Subse- (mm. 53-57, not mirroredin the bass voice). Thus the overall
quently, in m. 3, the sopranoemploysthe octave leap while the structureof Psalm 24 is based on a wedge-like expansion and
bass continues its half-step descent, avoiding pitches in the contractionof intervalsizes that is reflectedin the cyclicpitch-
lower part of the bass register; this shifts the axis upward(to class model of each verse.35
F#4) for the firsttwo beats of m. 3. The unmirroredshiftscon- Ives's interest in maximizingpitch-classvariety is naturally
tinue in the remainderof the verse, continuallymovingthe axis relevantto a systematicexplorationof cycles such as Psalm24.
and unpredictablyvaryingthe sizes of the verticalintervals. Intervals1 and 2 are sourcesfor verses 1 and 2, intervals5 and7
Similarproceduresgovern a mirroringof intervals2 and 10 control verses 5 and 7, respectively, and interval 3, despite a
in verse 2, initiatinga verse-by-versepatternof progressivein- low cardinality (4), is used (with pc repetitions) in verse 3.
creases in the intervalsizes of the cyclic model that culminates Rather than employing interval4 (CARD 3) in verse 4 and in-
with a cycle of interval 7 mirroredby 5 beginning in verse 7
(mm. 35-44). This is followed by a rapidreductionin interval
sizes in the final two verses, with several cycles used in each 35HitchcockdescribesPsalm24 similarlyin Ives:A Surveyof theMusic, 31-
verse, concludingwith an interval-1source in the final phrase 32.
terval 6 (CARD 2) in verse 6, however, Ives introducesvaria- of structures,their ability to generate pitch-classvariety, and
tions in the scheme that promote greater pitch-classvariety. their contributionsto Ives's compositionallanguage.
The pitch-classmodels for verses 4 and 6 are based on alterna- The alternationof intervals4 and 3 in Figure2, a "4/3"com-
tions of intervals:verse 4 alternatesintervals3 and 4 (mirrored binationcycle, can be viewed as a combinationof an "A set" of
by intervals 9 and 8), and verse 6 alternatesintervals5 and 6 pitch classes in the even-numberedorder positions with a "B
(mirroredby 7 and 6). Cyclicrepetitionsof thistype, essentially set" in the odd-numberedpositions. Both the A and B sets in
combinationsof two single-intervalcycles, representa fruitful this case are generatedby cycles of interval7, whichis the sum
areafor furtherinquiryinto the more sophisticatedexperimen- (mod 12) of the two alternatingintervals.Conceptually,the A
tation of Ives's later years. and B sets constitutean "overlay"of a cycle with itself at a par-
ticularinterval:the 4/3 cycle overlaystwo interval-7cycles at a
The idea of a "combination cycle," or
CYCLES.
COMBINATION distanceof interval4.40ViewingIves'sintervallicalternationsas
a cyclic alternation of two intervals, presents itself early in combinationcycles assumes a transpositionalequivalencebe-
Ives's works as, for example, a combinationof major and mi- tween the combinedcycles, and encompassesanypossibletwo-
nor thirds (intervals4 and 3). In addition to their role in the interval alternation.41In general terms, x + y = n (mod 12),
pitch-classwedge materialof verse 4 of Psalm 24, these inter- wherex andy are anytwo alternatingintervalsoverlayingcycles
vals combine to form chordsof "stackedthirds"in organworks of intervaln. The possible values of x and y for a given n are
fromthe 1890s,includingan interludefor a churchservice36and defined by the operatorcycles TnI (see Table 1). For example,
organpartsfrom the cantataTheCelestialCountry(1898-99).37 where n = 7, as in Figure 2, the possible values of x and y are
These structures realize a suggestion from Ives's father, re- indicatedby T7Icycles:
called by Ives in his Memos: "If two major or minor 3rds can
make up a chord, why not more?"38While Ives'schordsexhibit x/y = 0/7, 7/0, 1/6, 6/1,2/5, 5/2, 3/4, 4/3, 8/11, 11/8, 9/10, or 10/9.
different distributionsof the two intervals, some, such as the
sonoritiesin the Introductionto No. 7 in TheCelestialCountry, A simple exchange of the x/y values, as in converting9/10 to
employ a strictalternationbetween the two intervalsto gener- 10/9, has only a subtle effect on the presentationof the two al-
ate a large, regularlystructuredchordwithoutpitch-classdupli-
cations.39Ives's exploration of other intervallic alternations 4This approachbears similaritiesto that of Elliott Antokoletz, in TheMu-
raises questions about the gamutof possibilitiesfor these types sic ofBela Bart6k, in which interval-1cycles are combinedin orderto explain
symmetricalpitch constructions,thoughhis studydoes not extend the concept
to encompass combinationsof other cycles. Along these same lines, the com-
positionalsystem of George Perle outlinedin Twelve-ToneTonality(Berkeley:
36Transcribedin Henry and SidneyCowell, CharlesIves and His Music,35. University of CaliforniaPress, 1977) combines cycles of every interval, but is
Kirkpatrick(Catalogue, 107) gives the probabledate for the interludeas 1892. primarily concerned with inverse-related cycles and their compositional
37See,for example, the Preludebefore No. 2 andthe Introductionto No. 7. applications.
38Ives,Memos, 47. See also related recollections,33 and 120. 41Theconcept may be naturallyextended to encompassmore than two in-
39Anotherinstance occurs in Psalm 90, m. 2. The stacked thirds of m. 2 tervalsin alternation, thus possibly involvinga combinationof several cycles.
recurthroughoutthe work to serve as partof a "harmonicleitmotif"system, as Ives rarely uses such a sequence, and the present discussionis limited to two
described by Donald Grantham, "A Harmonic 'Leitmotif' System in Ives's alternatingintervals.Morris'sconcept of a cyclicINTwould applyto cyclicrep-
Psalm 90," In TheoryOnly 5/2 (1979), 3-14. etitions of any type (CompositionWithPitch Classes,40, 107).
Resources 55
Figure 2. 4/3 combination cycle.
op: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
B set: 4 11 6 1 8 3 10 5 0 7 2 9
(pc)
A set: 0 7 2 9 4 11 6 1 8 3 10 5
(pc) I
PCL = 8
first repetition
ternating intervals, but may more significantlyinfluence as- The combinationwill be termed "reiterative"where the pitch-
pects of the pitch-classsuccession. class content of A and B is the same, or "nonreiterative"where
Where n is even, the presence of a singleton cycle indicates the pitch-classcontent of the A and B sets is different. Mem-
that x = y, expressing a single-intervalcycle as an alternation bershipof any combinationin one of these two categoriesis dis-
of two identicalintervals.If n = 10, for example, x/y can be 5/5 played by the x/y values: if x and y are multiples(mod 12) of n,
or 11/11in additionto 0/10, 1/9, and so on, because5 and 11 are the combinationis reiterative,andif x andy arenot multiplesof
the singletons of the T1oIcycles. A subdivision of this type n the combinationis nonreiterative.The four CARD-12 cycles
within an interval-5cycle (x/y = 5/5) is apparentin Example 1, (n = 1, 5, 7, 11) generate only reiterative combinationsbe-
where Ives highlightsthe underlyinginterval-10cycle through cause all possible x/y values are multiples(mod 12) of the n val-
accentuationand registralassociation. ues, while the other cycles may or may not generatereiterative
Though a combinationinvolvinga CARD-12 cycle will con- combinations.For example, where n = 2, reiterativecombina-
tinue to op 23, Ives is typicallymost concernedwiththe number tions resultwhen x/y = (multiplesof 2) 0/2, 2/0, 4/10, 10/4, 6/8,
of pcs prior to repetition, the "pitch-classlength" (PCL) of a and 8/6, but nonreiterative combinations result when
combinationcycle. The PCL of the 4/3 cycle illustratedin Fig- x/y = (non-multiples)1/1, 3/11, 11/3, 5/9, 9/5, and 7/7. In the
ure 2 is 8, because eight pcs (op 0-7) are statedpriorto the first case of interval-2cycles (and interval-10),a nonreiterativecom-
repetition:pc 4 at op 8 is a repetitionof the pc at op 1. Thus, in a bination produces aggregate completion from combiningthe
numberingof order positions that begins with 0, the op of the odd and even whole-tone collections.
firstrepeated pc will correspondto the value of the PCL. Prediction of the PCL in nonreiterative combinations is
The value of the PCL is a functionof the CARD of the over- achieved by doubling the CARD of the n-cycle: PCL =
laid single-intervalcycle and of the content of the A and B sets. CARD(n) x 2. That is, the numberof pitch classes in both A
For combinationsof cycles of CARD 12, the pitch classesof A and B together totals the numberof uniquepitch classesin the
and B will always be the same, allowing a variety of possible segment. PCL predictionfor reiterativecombinationsentails a
PCL values. Overlaidcycles with cardinalitiessmallerthan 12, more extensive calculationprocedure.Everypossiblecombina-
however, exhibit either complete equivalence of pitch-class tion of a cycle with itself, and thusevery PCLvalue, is displayed
content between the A and B sets or complete nonequivalence. in a comparison of a constant A set with each rotation of
Table 1. Valuesfor x/y andPCLin combinationcycles.

[x/y, PCL] [etc.]
n R=0 R= 1 R=2 R=3 R=4 R= = 5 R=6 R=7 R=8 R=9 R = 10 R = 11
1 0/1, 1 1/0, 2 2/11,4 3/10,6 4/9,8 5/E

3,10 6/7,12 7/6,11 8/5,9 9/4,7 10/3,5 11/2,3
2 0/2, 1 2/0, 2 4/10,4 6/8, 6 8/6, 5 10/,4,3

*1/1,12 3/11,12 5/9,12 7/7,12 9/5,12 11/3,12
3 0/3, 1 3/0, 2 6/9, 4 9/6, 3

*1/2, 8 4/11,8 7/8, 8 10/5,8
*2/1, 8 5/10,8 8/7, 8 11/4,8
4 0/4, 1 4/0, 2 8/8, 3

*1/3, 6 5/11,6 9/7, 6
*2/2, 6 6/10,6 10/6,6
*3/1, 6 7/9, 6 11/5,6
5 0/5, 1 5/0, 2 10/7,4 3/2, 6 8/9, 8 1/'4,10 6/11,12 11/6,11 4/1, 9 9/8, 7 2/3, 5 7/10,3
6 0/6, 1 6/0, 2
*1/5, 4 7/11,4
*2/4, 4 8/10,4
*3/3, 4 9/9, 4
*4/2, 4 10/8, 4
*5/1, 4 11/7, 4
7 0/7, 1 7/0, 2 2/5, 4 9/10, 6 4/3, 8 11/8,10 6/1,12 1/6,11 8/11,9 3/4,7 10/9,5 5/2,3
8 0/8, 1 8/0, 2 4/4, 3

*1/7, 6 9/11,6 5/3, 6
*2/6, 6 10/10,6 6/2, 6
*3/5, 6 11/9, 6 7/1, 6
9 0/9, 1 9/0, 2 6/3, 4 3/6, 3

*1/8, 8 10/11,8 7/2, 8 4/5, 8
*2/7, 8 11/10,8 8/1, 8 5/4, 8
10 0/10,1 10/0, 2 8/2, 4 6/4, 6 4/6, 5 2/8, 3

*1/9,12 11/11,12 9/1,12 7/3,12 5/5,12 3/7,12
11 0/11,1 11/0, 2 10/1, 4 9/2, 6 8/3, 8 7/4,10 6/5,12 5/6,11 4/7, 9 3/8,7 2/9,5 1/10,3
*rowsprecededby asteriskslist nonreiterativecombinations
Resources 57
Table 1 (cont.) the first pc repetition occurs in the B set, repeatingthe ini-
TI Cycles tial pc of the A set.
T1I (0-1) (2-11) (3-10) (4-9) (5-8) (6-7)

4. Casel: PCL = R x 2. Case2: PCL = (R' x 2) + 1.
T2I (0-2) (1) (3-11) (4-10) (5-9) (6-8)
T31 (0-3) (1-2) (4-11) (5-10) (6-9) (7-8) Figure3a executes these four steps in calculatingthe PCLof
T41 (0-4) (1-3) (2) (5-11) (6-10) (7-9) the 3/2 combination.At step 1, R = 3, because OMABois 3: pc
T5I (0-5) (1-4) (2-3) (6-11) (7-10) (8-9) 9, the firstpc of B, occursat op 3 in A. R' is 9 for step 2, because
T61 (0-6) (1-5) (2-4) (3) (7-11) (8-10) 3 + 9 = 0 (mod 12). Step 3 determinesthat case 1 applies, and
T7I (0-7) (1-6) (2-5) (3-4) (8-11) (9-10)
T8I (0-8) (1-7) (2-6) (3-5) (4) (9-11)
step 4 calculatesthe PCL as 6. The firstpc repetitionoccursjust
TgI (0-9) (1-8) (2-7) (3-6) (4-5) (10-11)
afterthe sixth pc in the segment, at pc 9 in the A set, whichfirst
TloI (0-10) (1-9) (2-8) (3-7) (4-6) (5) occurs at the beginningof the B set.
TllI (0-11) (1-10) (2-9) (3-8) (4-7) (5-6) Figure3b gives anotherrotationof the same pitch-classma-
terialswith the four-stepPCL calculation.The value of R, cal-
culated at step 1, is 9 and its complement, R' in step 2, is 3. In
the (pitch-class equivalent) B set; CARD different rotations step 3, case 2 applies, so the PCL is calculatedto be 7 in step 4.
are possible. The PCL of a specificcombination,therefore,is a The firstpc repetitionoccursjust afterthe seventhpc in the seg-
result of the number of rotations of B with respect to A. The ment, at pc 6 in the B set, which firstoccursat the beginningof
calculation procedure for the PCL begins with the establish- the A set.
ment of order position indicatorsfor the A set, or, in Morris's Where R = 0, meaningthe orderingof A and B is identical,
notation, the order mapping of segment A, OMAA.42The the initial pc repetition occurs at its earliest possible position,
OMAAis numbered from 0 through CARD- 1, as shown be- the beginningof the B set. The PCL, therefore,followsthe case
low the A set of the 3/2 combinationcycle in Figure3a (n = 5), 2 conditions, where the first pitch class of A recurs in B to
for comparisonwith OMAB,the order mappingsof B with re- define the PCL. At step 4, either R or R' can be insertedin the
spect to A. A four-stepprocedurecalculatesthe PCL: formula, because both values are 0.
1. Determine R = OMABo.In other words, R is the A set or- Where n = 0, meaning x and y are mod 12 complements,
der position of the firstpitch class of the B set, showingthe the calculation procedure does not apply, since, technically,
numberof times B has been rotated with respect to A. this indicates an overlay of cycles of interval0. For example,
2. Find R', defined as the mod(CARD) complement of R. x/y = 5/7 defines the segment <0,5>. The PCL is 2 where
n = 0, except for x/y = 0/0, where the PCL is 1.
R + R' = 0 (mod(CARD)).
Figure4 calculatesPCL values for two reiterativecombina-
3. CompareR and R'. If R (and R') OandR < R' (Case ), tions of interval-3cycles. The CARD of this cycle is 4, requiring
the firstpc repetition occurs in the A set, repeatingthe ini- referenceto the mod 4 complementpairslistedon line a. In Fig-
tial pc of the B set. If R (and R') = 0 or R > R' (Case 2), ure 4b, the x/y values are 3/0, producingan earlypc duplication
that can easily be observed by inspection, or can be derived
42Morris,115 (DEF 3.13). The OMAAis a mappingbased on the segment through the four-step calculation procedure, as listed to the
A such that OMAAs-os. rightof the segment. The value of R is 1, whichis smallerthan
Figure 3. PCL calculations.

a. 3/2 combination cycle.
B set: 9 2 7 0 5 10 3 8 1 6 11 4
A set: 6 11 4 9 2 7 0 5 10 3 8 1
OMAA: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
1. R = OMABo = 3
2. R' = 9
3. R 0 and R < R' (case 1)
4. PCL = Rx2
PCL = 3x2
PCL = 6
b. 9/8 combination cycle.
B set: 3 8 1 6 11 4 9 2 7 0 5 10
A set: 6 11 4 9 2 7 0 5 10 3 8 1
OMAA: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
1. R = OMABo =9
2. R' = 3
3. R > R'(case2)
4. PCL = (R' x 2) + 1
PCL = (3 x 2)+ 1
PCL = 6+1
PCL = 7
its mod 4 complement, 3, requiringthe case-1 PCL calculation Once the pitch-class succession of an entire segment has
shown at step 4. The PCL is 2: both the A and B sets state only been established, rotational operations applied to the
one pitch class before a duplicationoccurs.In Figure4c, differ- segment-that is, to the combinationof A and B sets, not just
ent dispositionsof the same A and B sets demonstratea case-2 to the B set alone-can result in exchanges of x/y values and
calculationand a PCL of 3. variablePCLs. The values of x andy for any completesegment
Resources 59
Figure 4. PCL calculations for smaller cardinalities.
0 1 2 3
a. mod 4 complements:
0 3 2 1
b. B set: 8 11 2 5 1. R OMABo = 1
A set: 5 8 11 2 2. R' 3
OMAA: 0 1 2 3 3. R 0 and R < R' (case 1)
4. PCL Rx2
PCL 1x2
PCL 2
c. B set: 2 5 8 11 1. R OMABo = 3
A set: 5 8 11 2 2. R' 1
OMAA: 0 1 2 3 3. R R' (case 2)
4. PCL (R' x 2) + 1
PCL (1 x 2) + 1
PCL 2+ 1
PCL 3
beginning on a member of the A set exchange positions for a segment in Figure 4c and any rotations to A set membersex-
segment startingwith a B set member. In Figure4c, for exam- hibitPCLsof 3, while all rotationsto B set membersshow PCLs
ple, x/y = 9/6 for the original segment <5,2,8,5,11,8,2,11> of 4. In essence, an exchangeof x/y values in a reiterativecom-
and for rotations that begin with other membersof the A set, binationcycle increasesor decreasesthe PCL by one.
but x/y = 6/9 for a single rotationto <2,8,5,11,8,2,11,5> or to Table 1 summarizesx/y values arisingfrom combinationsof
a segment beginning on any other member of the B set. This interval-ncycles and the resultingPCLs. The possible values
distinctionbetween x/y exchanges in reiterativecombinations for n are given by the cycles of TnIshown separatelyin the ta-
is reflected by the PCL. Obviously, the PCL is not variablein ble. Rows in the chartlist differentcombinationsof the same n-
rotations and x/y exchanges within nonreiterativecombina- cycles in both reiterativeand nonreiterativecombinations(the
tions, where the PCL is alwaystwice the CARD. However, ro- latterindicatedby asterisks).Columnsrepresentdifferentrota-
tations of reiterativecombinationsexhibit one of two PCL val- tions of the B set with respect to the A set. For reiterativecom-
ues, with a differenceof 1, dependingon whetherthey beginon binations,R = 0 in column 1, indicatingthat the orderof the A
a member of the A set or a member of the B set. The original and B sets is identical, R = 1 in column 2, meaning B is one
rotation of A, and so forth. For nonreiterativecombinations, Row 2 could then appear as a combinationof the same A set
the firstcolumn lists the combinationswith the smallestvalues with a B set of pc values that are one greaterthan the previous
of x and their subsequentreadingsafter rotationsof B. In the row. The B set at R = 0 would be <1,4,7,10>, rotated as fol-
rotations of interval-3 cycle combinations, for example, the lows:
first nonreiterativex/y combinationis 1/2, listed at the begin-
ning of the row that includesrotationsof B to produce4/11, 7/8, R=0 R=1 R=2 R=3
and 10/5. A thirdrow then completesthe listingsfor n = 3, be- B set: 1 4 7 10 4 7 10 1 7 10 1 4 10 1 4 7
ginning with x/y = 2/1, the next smallest availablevalue of x, A set: 0369 0369 03 69 0 369
and includingB set rotations to generate 5/10, 8/7, and 11/4. x/ = 1/2 4/11 7/8 10/5
The chart omits values for n = 0, where x/y are mod-12 com-
plement pairswith PCLsof 1 (x/y = 0/0) or 2 (x/y = 1/11,2/10, Similarly,row 3 could begin with the B set <2,5,8,11>, or val-
3/9, 4/8, 5/7, 6/6). ues one greater than <1,4,7,10>, rotated to generate the re-
With regardto pitch-classcontent, the rows in the chartas-
mainingx/y combinations.
sociated with each value of n representthe differentpitch-class
Complementaryn values containinversevaluesof x/y: every
collections that are possible from the indicatedcombinations.
x/y in Table 1 correspondsto anotherx/y that is its mod 12 in-
The number of rows for each value of n correspondsto the verse. These inversepairsexhibitthe same R values and do not
numberof differentcollectionsthat can be generated:two rows differ in PCL. For example, n values of 5 and 7 generate the
are listed for n = 2 or 10 because there are two whole-tone inverse x/y values of 1/4 and 11/8, both generatedfrom R = 5
pitch-classcollections, three rows are listed for n = 3 or 9 be- and exhibiting a PCL of 10. Because interval 6 is its own in-
cause there are three interval-3 or -9 collections (diminished verse, all inverse pairs for n = 6 are containedin the same six
seventh chords), and so forth. In every case, combinationsin rows of the chart.
the first(reiterative)row can generate CARD(n) unique pitch
Certainly, if pitch-classvariety is a primarycompositional
classes, because A and B are pitch-classequivalent,while com- aim, many of the combinationcycles in Table 1 may be of lim-
binationsin any subsequent(nonreiterative)rowscan generate ited value. Combinationsof intervals4, 6, or 8, for example,
(CARD(n) x 2) unique pitchclasses, becauseA and B are not cannot generate a PCL greater than 6. This does not mean,
equivalent. Assuming, for purposes of illustration, that the however, that the smallerPCLs are withoutcompositionalap-
pitch classes of the A set are the same for each row, the pitch plicability.Indeed, the set-classtypes of manyof the combina-
classes of the B set are increased by one in successive rows. tion cycles, regardlessof the size of theirPCLs, are some of the
Where n = 3, for example, a pitch-classrepresentationof row most common pitch-classstructuresin Ives's music, as in the
1 could read as follows: musicof other composersof his era. In the interval-6combina-
tions, for example, the nonreiterativelistingson the secondand
R=0 R=1 R=2 R=3 sixth lines of Table 1 produce4-9 [0,1,6,7], a basic element of
Ives's music at every point in his development.43Otherfamiliar
B set: 0369 3690 6903 9036
A set: 0369 0369 0369 0369 43Seefor example, the combinationsof half-step related tritones in Ives's
x/y = 0/3 3/0 6/9 9/6 Second String Quartet (first movement, mm. 27, 37 [vln. 1, via.], 38 [vln. 2,
Resources 61
Example 9. Musicalapplicationsof combinationcycles.

a. Second StringQuartet, second movement, mm. 17-18, firstviolin.
I 4, -I LeIn
7
A 17 L^-tt-_ L_ -f
W II
PI r[ m -
I -
. fr
- LI;I f* F- Itrll
I=I '='l
PCL= 12
Bset: 6 11 4 9 2 1 4 9 2 7
A set: 0 5 10 3 8 1 0 5 10 3 8 1 (n = 5)
x/y = 6/11
b. Overthe Pavements,mm. 18-22, clarinet(concertpitch).

18
l8 .. 20 _p.. 21 22
, .
,d LJ I- V I LJ - IL Fi'i
i I i I
I I 1
x/y = 4 / 7 (n= 11)
Bset: 3 2 1 0 11 10
A set: 11 10 9 8 7 5
[7I 6
PCL =9 \
1st rep.
structures in the table include the whole-tone subset 4-25 values in reiterativeand nonreiterativecombinations.Among
[0,2,6,8] on the third and fifth rows of the interval-6combina- the more common largerstructuresis the octatonic collection,
tions, and 6-20 [0,1,4,5,8,9], one of the all-combinatorialhexa- 8-28 [0,1,3,4,6,7,9,10], derivedin nonreiterativecombinations
chords, on the second and fourth rows of the interval-4or -8 of intervals3 or 9. For combinationsof the CARD-12 cycles,
combinations. every possible PCL value (1-12) is available(see Tab. 1), pro-
When he uses these combinationsto project cyclicinterval- vidingmaterialfor some of Ives's most frequentcombinations.
lic repetitions, however, Ives typicallyfavors the larger PCL In the violin line fromhis Second StringQuartetgivenin Exam-
ple 9a, for example, Ives employs the 6/11 interval-5combina-
cello]). In TheStructureof Atonal Music, Forte cites six examplesof this tetra- tion to complete the aggregatethroughprojectionof the maxi-
chord in music of Webern, Scriabin,Stravinsky,and Berg, includingthe well- mal PCL. The segmentis repeatedbeginningon the fourthbeat
known extensive usage in Webern'sFive Movementsfor StringQuartet,Op. 5 of m. 17, following the arrivalof the twelfthpitch class, so that
No. 4 (p. 27). This set classis George Perle's "y"cell in his analysisof Op. 5 No.
the cycles in the A and B sets individuallydo not continuepast
4 in SerialCompositionandAtonality,5th ed. (Berkeley:Universityof Califor-
nia Press, 1981), 16-18. Lendvai's study of Bart6k also focuses on this tetra- their midpoints. However, since A and B are literal comple-
chord, identifyingit as one of the repetitiveinterval"models"commonin Bar- ments, the reiterationmight be viewed as a continuationof the
t6k's pitch language. individualcycles with the relative order positions exchanged:
the pitch classes of the initialA set complete an interval-5cycle amassing pitch materials for his "Universe ... in tones."45
with the pitch classes of the reiterationof the B set, and vice Sketch page 3038, as numberedby Kirkpatrick,lists cycles of
versa. varioussizes and combinationaldistances,apparentlyin prepa-
The clarinetline from Ives's Over the Pavements(1906-13) ration for the musical settings of some of these structureson
given in Example 9b projectsa PCL of 9 from a combinationof sketch page 3036.46Example 11 literally transcribes3038, in-
interval-11cycles in a 4/7 alternation.Similarto the extraction cluding the composer's marginalnotations indicatinginterval
of interval-10cycles from the 5/5 cycle in Example 1, the gener- sizes and instrumentalspecifications,while excludingonly ex-
ating interval-11 cycles in Example 9b are registrallyassoci- traneous markings-some of which apparently cross out
ated, in the mannerof a "compoundmelody." In mm. 18-21, material-and erasuresor otherwiseindistinctnotations.In the
each note in the combinationcycle is of three sixteenths'dura- transcription,only bracketedmaterial,includingclef signs and
tion, and this durationalconsistencyis abandonedwith the ar- the numberingof the staves in the left margin,is not original.
rival of the final element of the PCL, pc 7 in m. 22. After this Along the left side of the page, Ives writes letters "a," "b,"
point, the durationsare shortenedand the A and B sets do not "C," and "D" to subdividethe textureinto fourparts,although
continue to their individualcycliccompletions. the musicalnotations within the partsof the page correspond-
As with single-intervalcycles, combinationcycles may pro- ing to each letter do not obviouslyalignas a score:the majority
vide skeletons for patternsof embellishmentover largermusi- of the notations are clearly the abstract pitch resources on
cal spans. This can generate an unsystematic type of which each of the correspondingpartsare to be based.
embellishment-as is the case for the interval-11cycle of Ex- Two groups of ideas on 3038 are not abstractcyclic struc-
ample6-or a frameworkfor sequentialrepetition.In Ives'spi- tures. In staves 4 through8, roughlythe righthalf of the page
ano work Rough and Ready (1906-07), for example, the ten- containsa melodic line with sustainedaccompaniment(in bass
note sequential pattern bracketed above the excerpt in clef, with bar lines interspersed) that apparently continues
Example 10 occurs in six transpositionsrelated by descending fromthe end of staves 5 and 6 to the middleof staves7 and 8. A
whole-steps.44Accents and slurs highlight the first and sixth second area of compositionalsetting appearson staves 11-13.
sonoritiesin each sequentialunit, projectingan alternatingde- All other materialson the page are cyclicpitchrepetitions,usu-
scent of even and odd whole-tone scales among the upper ac- ally notated in whole notes, often circled, and often accompa-
cented notes. Since the overlaydistanceis 3, the resultis the 3/7 nied by an indicationof the intervalor intervalsthat constitute
combinationcycle, a nonreiterativewhole-tone combination. the cyclicrepetition. In a few cases, Ives also makesnote of the
In the sketches for his UniverseSymphony(1911-28), Ives total numberof uniquepitch classes that is generated.
begins to catalogue the possibilities for combination cycles, Includedamong the cyclicnotationson page 3038 are single
cycles of intervals10 and 11 at the beginningof staves 7 and 8.
Ives labels these, respectively, "all MIN 7" and "all MAJ 7,"
44Kirkpatrick,Catalogue,96 (Cat. No. 3B16ii). This work, the full title of

which is "Rough and Ready et al. and/orthe JumpingFrog," is the second of 45Memos, 106; Kirkpatrick, Catalogue, 27 (Cat. No. 1A9). A
the Five Take-Offsfor piano, as named by Kirkpatrick.It is transcribedin Al- "Facsimile/Transcription" of the sketches is in preparationby Peer-Southern.
bert Lotto, "ExperimentalAspects of the Completed Short Piano Pieces of 46Thesenumbersare the photostat negative numbersgiven to the rightof
CharlesIves" (D.M.A. thesis, Juilliard,1978), 112-118. each entry in Kirkpatrick'sCatalogue.
Resources 63
Example 10. Rough and Ready, mm. 8-15, righthand.
sequential
unit: 1 2 3 4 5 6
A A 15
A8 Et.Br^JrTr I 8 ^ ArT r1^2rrT^rrl Tr^ A^Â
A A A
ta A
1
13A 14
'"-" -K Ti PIMal
IMM"W 6"~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!
J"
__-i
L
. - I iW
'lEWl I II;
@ |=I iU;; I
B set: 3 11 9 7
A set: 0 10 8 6
x/y= 3 / 7 (n = 10) PCL = 12
and allows octave transpositionsin the latter out of necessity The 9/4 cycle on staves 1 and 2 (Fig. 5a), the 5/8 combination
(see Ex. 11). On staff 8, immediately following the major- labeled by Ives "5E" on staves 11 and 12 (Fig. 5e), and the 6/7
seventh sequence, he begins a sequence of decreasinginterval structureon staves 15 and 16, near the center (Fig. 5i) all com-
sizes that states only intervals7, 6, and 5.47The combination bine cycles of interval 1 to project different PCL values. Ives
cycles on the page display many of the possibilitiesfor higher indicates, with the number "12," that the latter generates a
PCLvalues from combiningcyclesof intervals1,2, 3, 9, and 11. complete aggregatefrom an alternationof a "MIN5 [sic]"and
Figure5 summarizesthe structureof all the cyclicformationsin "Perfect5th."48The other two interval-1combinationscannot,
Example 11, giving their x/y, n, and PCL values. Partsa and b of course, complete the aggregatewithout pc repetitions, and
of the figure illustrate combinationcycles found in the upper Ives continues the intervallicsequences only to the final notes
half of the page, parts e and f show structureson staves 11 and in the PCLs. On staves 1 and 2, the 9/4 combinationstops after
12, near the right margin, and partsg throughj correspondto the seventh element (see Fig. 5a), avoidingthe continuationto
materialson the bottom two staves, in orderfrom left to right. pc 0, which would reiterate the pitch class on which the se-
The cycles of intervals 10 and 11 on staves 7 and 8 are listed as quence begins. The 5/8 combinationon staves 11 and 12 (with
10/10and 11/11in partsc and d of Figure5, viewed as overlays registral shift) stops after the tenth element (see Fig. 5e) to
of interval-8and interval-10cycles, respectively. avoid reiteratingpc 5, firstpresented as the second element.
Interval-11combinationson the page, displayingx/y values
that are complementaryto those for interval1, presenttwo ad-
47Ives uses sequences of descending intervals, similar to Fritz Henrich ditional PCL possibilities. The 4/7 combination at the right
Klein's "Pyramidenakkord," on several occasions. An early example appears marginof staves 11 and 12 (Fig. 5f) continues past the end of
in his father's Copybook, p. [165] (Kirkpatrick Catalogue No. 7E77). See also
Tone Roads No. 1, downbeat of m. 12. See Fritz Heinrich Klein, "Die Grenze 48A perusal of the marginalia in Example 11 will reveal that Ives occasion-
der Halbtonwelt," Die Musik 17/4 (January 1925), 284. ally mislabels the quality of intervals.
Example 11. UniverseSymphony,sketchpage q3038,literaltranscription.
Maj6 bassoon
[21
[2]
[4]
. , i --*?-1
A 6Maj
f^ /ft^^ ^^ u Mva3
[5]
-
---4P -3 -
[6] <^ r" ^f
-
@r0n - 0 |
[7] J .
M:L /5^ -J
r.W j/J 0
[8]
at]
ti4N alMAJ7
[9] 7
S--5E
[10]
3 horn
-nn
Tuba
43 6 W
M? / ?
[ 11 I
TJ, < ^ ît 5$3,, ^ 1 y tf0
u /; <? /
trombone j 3 1
"
~; '
[ 12]
v ... (J tn t ..../M
[ 13]
\
^-^
'
p_4
;
L~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~broken
.^^^'
3rd
s by
6 2 Ma 2
[ 14] v61 ?
'r^*- .ro . _ "? ~~b
? "') 2-
ab"~MIN ;Min2
" t~
horn 2 - 0 - -o'-
b_ ..o_
^ 12
[ 15 1
[J?1 (o'0"^ ^?*'c /^
LV J
12 wm2 Mtaj -m "
r I A m2 Maj 2 . m3
[ 161
4th
9r
tF //
mm 5
1
4th
9:1
tv ite
min 5
Ma]3
Maj3
F ' \
9:~~~~~~~~~~~t,
#
9"- .'- 1,1
.i--~ .0 -tO-
""
" 4 Tuba
Tuba '\ - MIN
MIN5 Maj2 maj 2
3 Cor Perfect5 min 2 min 2
4 Ba etc. mi 3
Resources 65
Figure 5. Summary of cycles in Example 11.
a. Lines 1-2. f. Lines 11-12.

pc 0 9 1 10 2 11 3 pc 0 4 11 3 10 2 9 1 8
x/y = 9/4 n= 1 PCL=7 x/y= 4/7 n=11 PCL =9
b. Lines 5-6. g. Lines 15-16.

pc 0 5 2 7 4 9 6 11 8 1 10 3 pc 6 11 5 10 4 9 3 8 2 7 1 6 0
x/y= 5/9 n= 2 PCL = 12 x/y = 5/6 n = 11 PCL = 11
c. Lines 7-8. h. Lines 15-16.

pc 0 10 8 6 4 2 0 pc 0 4 9 1 6 10 3 7 0
x/y = 10/10 n= 8 PCL = 6 x/y = 4/ 5 n= 9 PCL = 8
d. Lines 7-8. i. Lines 15-16.

pc 0 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 pc 0 6 1 7 2 8 3 9 4 10 5 11
x/y= 11/11 n = 10 PCL = 12 x/y = 6/7 n= 1 PCL = 12
e. Lines 11-12. j. Lines 15-16.

pc 0 5 1 6 2 7 3 8 4 9 pc 0 2 3 5 6 8 9 11
x/y= 5 /8 n= 1 PCL = 10 x/y = 2 /1 n= 3 PCL = 8
the PCL at the ninth element to returnto pc 0, thus forminga 6 (Fig. 5b) in a 5/9 alternationthat extends to its PCL of 12.
sonority with the same top and bottom note. In the lower left- Octatonic collections result from a 4/5 combinationoverlaying
hand corer of the page, a 5/6 combination(Fig. 5g) presentsa interval-9cycles in the center of lines 15-16 (Fig. 5h), and from
PCL of 11, followed by a repetition of pc 6 and the aggregate- a 2/1 alternationon staff 15 in the lower right-handcornerof the
completingpc 0. Ives drawsa line to separatethe 11 members page (Fig. 5j) overlayinginterval-3cycles. These combinations
of the PCL from the finaltwo notes, highlightingthe nonrepeti- complete a comprehensiveaccumulationof largerPCLs, rang-
tive portion of the sequence, while he also notes that 12 pitch ing from a PCL of 6 for the interval-10cycle to completionof
classes are present in the entire formation, deemphasizingthe the aggregate by three others, and includingevery value be-
single pitch-classrepetition. tween. Table 2 charts this accumulation, including the two
The other combinationcycles notated in Example 11 and in- single-intervalcycles (Fig. 5c and 5d) notated as combinations.
cluded in Figure5 are nonreiterativecombinationsof other cy- Noticeably absentfromthe n values are cyclesof intervals5 and
cles. Nonintersectinginterval-2cycles are overlaidon staves 5- 7; combinationsof these cycles, of course, displaya patternof
Table 2. Summary of Figure 5 organized by PCL. sions of the combinationcyclesthatprecedethem, formingme-

lodic skeletons from the cyclic sources. These sketchingsdem-
PCL x/y n Ex. 11, lines: Fig. 5, part: onstratea compositionalapproachthat carriesthroughto other
6 10/10 8 4-5 c pages of the Symphony, as the combination cycles provide
sourcesof pitch-classmaterialfor subsequentdevelopmentand
7 9/4 1 1-2 a transformation.
8 4/5 9 15-16 h
CYCLES AS COMPOSITIONAL SOURCES.The linearizationson
2/1 3 15-16 J the bottom staves of the UniverseSymphonypage (Ex. 11) rep-
9 4/7 11 11-12 f resent a firststep towarda musicalrealizationof the cyclicpitch
structures.The 5/6 cycle notated in whole notes at the left mar-
10 5/8 1 11-12 e
gin (staves 15 and 16), for example, is immediatelyfollowed by
11 5/6 11 15-16 a series of darkenednote heads, with and then without stems,
g
that presentsthe notes of the cycle in order, except that the or-
12 5/9 2 5-6 b der of the thirdand fourthnotes (pcs 5 and 10) is reversed,and
11/11 2 7-8 d the penultimatepc 6, whichis a duplicationof the initialnote of
6/7 1 15-16 i the cycle, is omitted. In essence, then, the whole-notenotation
is an abstractexpressionof the pitch-classsource materialthat
is subsequentlyrealized, without rhythmicvalues, in a specific
PCL distributionanalogousto that for intervals1 and 11, and register. Presumably,each cycle notated on the page is to pro-
thus offer no unique contributionsto the PCL summary, al- vide source material of this nature in the composition of the
though they do display contrasting possibilities for x/y Symphony, in order that many musicalideas withinthe depic-
combinations. tion of a "Universe in tones" originatewith a predetermined,
The bottom three staves of Example 11 contain additional systematically conceived pitch-class structure. The cyclic
notations correlating to Ives's cyclic conception of the pitch sourcesdeterminea particularpitch-classsuccession,subjectto
structuresin the UniverseSymphony.Severalof these arecyclic slight order variations, as well as a uniformintervallicsucces-
sion and a specificpitch-classlength.50
repetitionsof differenttypes, includingan interval-3cycle plus
two addednotes (rightmarginof staff 14) andtwo instancesof a Ives's methods of realizing compositionalsources are not,
three-intervalalternation:repetitionsof intervals1-2-3and2-1- however, limitedto the simplelinearizationsshownhere andin
3 form octatonic subsets at the right marginof staff 16.49The Examples 1 and 9. In more complex incorporations,cyclic
other notes on these bottom three staves, mostly notated with structuresserve as sources for intermingledvertical and hori-
darkenednote heads, are linearizedand slightlyreorderedver-
50Similarly,Michael J. Babcock explores the circle of fifths as a composi-
49Belowthe 1-2-3 sequence, Ives indicatesthe alternatingintervallicpat- tional source for the "Thoreau"movementof Ives's ConcordSonatain "Ives's
tern "Maj2 / min 2 / etc," referringto the sequence directlyabove this but on 'Thoreau':A Point of Order," Proceedingsof theAmericanSocietyof Univer-
staff 15. sity Composers9 and 10 (1976), 89-102.
Resources 67
zontal ideas, potentially employingmore extensive distortions order-solely by order in the case of aggregatecompletion-
of originalordering. The consistent set-classsubstructurethat the process changes from a retention of pitch classes from the
naturallyarises from an intervallicsequence may be preserved source to a perpetuation of the intervallicadjacencies of the
and highlighted,while the underlyingintervallicrepetitionmay source. Thus, in verse 5 of Psalm24 (mm. 22-27), outer-voice
be to some extent suppressed.A "sourceset" of intervalcycles cycles of ascending and descending perfect fourths are sup-
must exert unequivocalcontrol over pitch constructions,since ported exclusivelyby quartalverticalities.Even when a source
substantial order variations may obscure original structural may be less audiblyfamiliar,as in some combinationcycles, for
properties, and, indeed, largercycles are distinguishablefrom example, a certain type of intervallic structurewill be pre-
each other only by their intervallicstructure,not by theirpitch- scribed, and this can be projected despite selected reorderings
class content. Still, the boundariesset forthby comprehensibil- and other distortionsof the source.
ity and fidelity to a source allow for ample compositional The structureof Ives's orchestral"tone poem" The Fourth
freedom. of July (1911-13) is based both on quotations of familiar
The overallunityprovidedby thistype of structuraldetermi- tunes-as is that of many of his longer orchestralworks-and
nant appearsin works composed as early as the choralPsalms, types of compositional calculationsassociated more with the
includingverses of Psalm24 thatfollow the excerptgiven as Ex- shorterexperimentalpieces. In recallinghis compositionof the
ample 8. While the chromaticismof verse 1 of this Psalm is dis- work, Ives writes of "a feeling of freedom as a boy has ... who
played in the outer voices only, cyclic sources in other verses wants to do anythinghe wants to do" while at the same time
influencethe complete texture, so that an entirepassageis satu- workingout "combinationsof tones and rhythmsvery carefully
rated with a distinctive constructionalprinciple. In verse 2 of by kind of prescriptions, in the way a chemical compound
Psalm24 (mm. 7-11), for example, the notes of the outer-voice which makes explosions would be made."51The network of
whole-tone scale also determine the pitch-classcontent of the quotationsis indeed diverse, resemblingthe sort of "free asso-
inner voices, with the resultthat the pervasivepitchresourceis ciation" Ives seems to describe, yet the choices of tunes are
indeed a "scale," in the traditionalsense, that definesthe har- hardlymade at random, and, as Dennis Marshallhas demon-
monic language of the passage. With a small cardinality,this strated,the tune "Red, White, and Blue" (RWB) standsat the
source is easily characterizedby content, and thus requiresno structuralcore of the movement.52Both the tune quotations
restrictionsof orderingto retainits integrity;notes for the alto and the pitch-rhythmcalculations contribute to a program-
and tenor can be selected from any portion of the outer-voice matic depiction of a civic celebration, establishinga series of
scale, without regard for their scalar ordering. The resulting musical interrelationshipsand extramusicalassociations that
vertical structuresare whole-tone subsets formed by various help to portraythe multiplicityof the experience.53
combinations of even-numbered intervals. Intervals 3 and 9
similarlyprescribethe harmoniclanguageof verse 3 (mm. 12- 51Ives,Memos, 104.
16). 52Marshall,"Charles Ives's Quotations," 54-55. The following analysis
For cyclic structuresthat generate higher numbersof pitch supportsMarshall'sobservationthat RWB is used as "both a melodic and har-
monic source" in the opening of the work.
classes, this type of intervallicsaturationcannotbe achievedby 53SeeMark D. Nelson, "Beyond Mimesis: Transcendentalismand Pro-
simple distributionof pitch classes from the source throughout cesses of Analogy in Charles Ives's The Fourthof July," Perspectivesof New
the texture. Because the source is distinguishedprimarilyby Music22/1-2 (1983-84), 353-384.
Evidence of cyclic compositionalsourcesis prominentfrom Example 12. The Fourthof July, mm. 8-13.
the opening section of the work. Ives notes, in the marginof an a. Thirdand fourthviolins, cello, bass.
early score-sketch,that some "chordsin '[The] Cage' " repre- 9
l10o 11 J
- .
121 ,b, J13),t
sent the originsof the firstsection of TheFourthof July, appar- \ ^7 i -^ * d- i r iio r i -a d r i X
F - II
r
ently referringto the series of sonoritiesconstructedof fourths p " F F
and fifths in the stringsof mm. 8-13.54The sustainednotes in
the condensed score of this passagegiven in Example 12aform __
a cyclic unity of intervals5 and 7 (chordsa and c, respectively, 6ÂI t X 0 X J , J
in the example) alternatingwith whole-tone sonorities (chord
b) in mm. 8-11.55Then in mm. 12-13 chords a and c are re- I
r
I
TL3--i
I I I
- Ff I II
r
1
rr I i
peated without the interruptionof chordb. The lower melodic a b c b a c
voice is mostly independentof the chords.The notationsbelow int.5: pc 0 5 10 3 8 1 6 11 4 9 2 7 int.2: pc 0 2 4 6 8 10

the score in the example trace chord a, beginningwith the pc 0 I I I I I b
a c b
of the lower melodic line, throughthe first seven elements of
the interval-5cycle, connectingto chordc for the cycliccomple- b. "Red, White, and Blue," firstphrase.
tion.56Chordc is constructedof fifthsand thus "inverts"chord
a; in effect, the cycle progressesupwardthrougha, connectsin
the upper register of both chords, and then progressesdown-
INT <5 - 2-5>
wardthroughc. The intervalsin chordb are also inverted(from
2 to 10), but the pitch classes do not change:both occurrences
of b state the five-tone whole-tone subset, as illustratedbelow
the score. parison of the lowest voice from Example 12a with the more
The lower melodic voice in this passagepresentsthe firstes- familiarversion of the firstphrasenotated in Example 12bcon-
sentiallycomplete statementof the firstphraseof RWB. Com- firmsthat the former is rhythmicallyvaried, and only the first
note, the G anacrusis,is missing. In the bars precedingm. 8 a
motivic interplayinvolvingprimarilythe firstfour pitchclasses
54Kirkpatrick,Catalogue, 11. Ives indicates elsewhere the influence of of the tune (includingthe anacrusis)forecasts the later more
other works on The Fourth of July, including March and Overture1776
complete versions. Example 13a gives a condensed score of
(Memos, 83) and The GeneralSlocum (Memos, 105).
55Ives'sassociationof quartaland whole-tone structurescalls to mindparts these first seven bars, omitting only a chromaticneighboring
of Schoenberg'sKammersymphonie,Op. 9 (for instance, mm. 1-3). Schoen- figureto C# that occurs in the second violins of mm. 4-7. The
berg's usages display the voice-leadingconnectionsdiscussedin his Theoryof third violin opens the work with a statement of the motive in
Harmony, 406. the key of Ct: G#-C#t-C#-D#-Gtin m. 1, extending to the
56ArthurMaisel describes these cyclic completions as "mutuallyexclusive
downbeatof m. 2, displaysthe intervalsuccession5-2-5 that is
collections" (that is, literal complements) in "The Fourthof July by Charles
Ives: Mixed Harmonic Criteriain a Twentieth-CenturyClassic," Theoryand the characteristicbeginning of RWB (see Ex. 12b). Example
Practice6/1 (1981), 3-32. These collectionsassumeconsiderablesignificancein 13b isolates each motivic occurrence.In m. 2 the fourthviolin
Maisel's analysisof the work. answerswith a variantin which the centralintervalis replaced
Resources 69
Example 13. TheFourthof July, mm. 1-7, strings.

a. condensed score
vln. 2 +vln. 1
f2 Hr-3--- 3 --345 6 7
yin
vl 3
2
va.
vc.
cb.
cb.
b. motivic structure
ni
,I IJ t lT l
?.J7 J7
INT: <5 - 2 - 5> <5 - 10 - 5> <5 - 2 - 5>
with its inverse, and in mm. 4-5 an exact transpositionof the B set: 0 7 2 9 4 11 6 1 8 3 10 5
motive in the bass implies the key of B. A set: 7 2 9 4 11 6 1 8 3 10 5 0
In addition to its relationshipto the primaryquoted tune of [x/y = 5/2] n=7
the work, the 5-2-5 motive exhibits a repetitive intervallic
structurethat may be tied to more abstractpitchresources.The
firstfour pitch classes of RWB are situatedwithinthe 5/2 com- This version of the 5/2 combinationbegins with the four pitch
bination cycle, an overlay of interval-7cycles at a distance of classes of the motive as it appearsin C major, pc <7,0,2,7>;
interval5. Takingthe most complete statementof RWB, the C- any four-element segment beginningon an A set member is a
major version in mm. 8-12 (plus the missing anacrusis),as a version of the 5-2-5 motive. The small PCL (3) is, of course,
point of departure, a full expression of the intervallicalterna- apparentas a pitch-classrepetitionbetween the firstand fourth
tion would read: pitch classes in the motive.
While the 5/2 combinationcycle cannotbe viewed as a tone- structuredaccordingto repeatedprojectionsof a numberseries
row-likesource set for this or any portionof TheFourthof July, that determines meter changes, phrase lengths, or rhythmic
it can provide a logical backdropfor the pitchstructureand the groupings.In Memos, Ives gives the numberseries as "2-3-5-
integration of the quoted tune. Consistent reference to the 7-11-7-5-3-2," a symmetricalarrangementof the five prime
characteristicintervalsin the combinationhighlightsthe impor- numbers greater than 1; the various presentations of the
tance of the repetitive intervallicstructuresin the pitch lan- "Prime Series" (PS) are sometimes altered by stopping after
guage of the composition. Indeed, the two complete motives the midpointor by invertingthe orderto begin and end on 11,
from mm. 1-7 (Ex. 13) are linked as adjacenciesin the source, placing2 in the center. Each occurrenceof the PS in the work
in reverse order: pc <6,11,1,6> (mm. 4-5) immediatelypre- can be viewed as a "variation,"projectingan overall form of:
cedes pc <8,1,3,8> (mm. 1-2) in the 5/2 combination: introduction,initial presentationof the PS, and the variations.
In commentingon the structureof the work, Ives implies that
Bset: 0 7 2 9 4 11 6 1 8 3 10 5 only the PS represents an element of constancyin the work,
Aset: 7 2 9 4 11 6 1 83 10 50 while the methods of projectionare constantlychanging;he re-
(mm. 4-5Xmm. 1-2) fers to repetitions of the PS as "cycles"that "grow, expand,
ebb, but never literallyrepeat."57
Further,the two alternatingintervalsindividuallyare primary Prior to the first presentationof the PS, a one-measurein-
structuralcomponents. This is most obviously apparentin the troductionin the stringsdisplaysthe cyclicoriginsthatwill simi-
passage immediatelyfollowing the motivicinterplay,shown in larlycharacterizepitchstructuresin otherportionsof the work.
Example 12a, as chordstructuresbuiltfromcyclesof intervals5 Constructedaccordingto a proportionalscheme of 4:3:2:1be-
and 2 (and their inverses). In the firstseven measures,each in- tween the note values of the four voices (top to bottom), this
tervaland its inverseare prominenteven apartfromexactrepe- measure subdivides into the three aggregatesthat are boxed
titions of the 5-2-5 motive: the continuation,for example, of andnumberedin Example 14. Each aggregateis derivedfroma
the initial motivic statement in the thirdviolin of m. 2 consists source interval-5cycle, following the op labels placed beside
of intervals10 and 7, and the violins sustaininterval2 through- each note in the score. The initial aggregateunfolds the pitch
out mm. 4-7 (two muted violins continue sustainingthis inter- classes in direct temporal succession, starting with ops 0-3
val through m. 91). Whole-tone relationships are also pro- stated simultaneously, followed by op 4 on the next pitch
jected by the pitch levels of the motivic statements in the change (vln. 1), leadingto ops 5 and6 statedtogetheron beat 2,
openingmeasures,as the second statement(vln. 4, m. 2) begins and continuingin this manner to op 11 on beat 3 in the cello.
a whole step higher than the initialmotive (vln. 3, m. 1), while The two other aggregates contain slight disorderingsof the
the version beginningin m. 4 is a whole step lower than that of
m. 1.
57Memos,101. This view of the form generallycorrespondsto that of John
Cyclicpitch derivationsalso play an integralrole in In re con McLainRinehart, "Ives'sCompositionalIdioms:An Investigationof Selected
moto etal (1913), a work for piano quintetin whichexperimen- ShortCompositionsas Microcosmsof His MusicalLanguage"(Ph.D. disserta-
tation with complex methods of organizingpitch and rhythm tion, Ohio State University, 1970), 48-61. See also UlrichMaske, CharlesIves
reaches a sort of saturationpoint. Amid a diversity of pitch in seinerKammermusikfur dreibissechsInstrumente,KolnerBeitragezurMu-
structuresderived throughcyclic and other means, this work is sikforschung,vol. 64 (Regensburg:G. Bosse, 1971), 121-123.
Resources 71
Example 14. In re con moto et al, m. 1.
r-., 5 7 .10
vln.
3 4'"'1 2 3 4 5 7 10 3
,,f
A A ^ A A
mf 8 6 3
va. 1J
5 4I jJ .
) 11 7 1 8
aggregates: 1. 2. 3.
op 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
int. 5 cycle: pc 1 6 11 4 9 2 7 0 5 10 3 8
source, so that, for example, op 7 occursbefore op 6 in aggre- single-intervalstructures,and the others employ intervallical-
gate 2 (cello and viola), and ops 9 and 10 occur before op 8 in ternations. Toward the end of m. 2, and again in m. 3, two
aggregate3 (vln. 1, viola, cello). In its customarycompositional notes of the chords are altered, temporarilydisruptingthe in-
role, the cyclic source provides for structuralunity of pitch tervallic scheme. Though the basic chord structurechanges
combinationsand control over pitch-classturnover. with each new duration,the intervalsizes do not projecta PS of
The initial presentation of the PS (mm. 2-6), immediately their own, as they might have done by formingchordsof elev-
following the one-measureintroduction,uses durationsto pro- enths, sevenths, fifths, thirds, and seconds, for example. How-
ject the "reciprocal"PS values, beginningwith 11 and shrink- ever, the registralspan of the chords effects a general, unsys-
ing to 2 at the midpoint. These are measured in eighth notes tematic contraction-expansionthat parallelsthe PS, reachinga
changingto sixteenths above the condensed score in Example narrow point at the shortest duration:chord e spans two oc-
15; the final duration (m. 6) is nine rather than eleven six- taves plus a fifth, in contrastto chords a and b (three octaves
teenths. The pitch structureof each chordis based on the repe- plus a tritone) and chordi (four octavesplus a fifth). The size of
titions indicated below the score: chords "a, b, h, i" display vertical intervals also reaches a maximumnear the end, with
Example 15. In re con moto et al, mm. 2-6, condensedscore.

J= 11 7
311i
= 2 3 5
a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i.
combination
cycle: 55/5 7/7 7/6 5/6 4/5 4/9 5/8 10/10 11/1 1
interval10 in chordh and 11 in chordi representingan increase (pc 1 and 6, enclosed in parentheses). Line 2 illustratesa 7/6
over the vertical intervalsused in previous chords (intervals4 cycle concludingwith its firstpc repetition(PCL = 11) at pc 6,
through9). whichis the bass note common to chordsb, c, and d. The wrap-
Several adjacentsonoritiesin this initialpresentationof the aroundbetween chordsc and d includesa point of intersection
PS are connected through a cyclic derivationalprocess resem- at pcs 8, 3, and 9, the upperthree notes of both chords.
bling the linkages between interval-5and -7 structuresin mm. Pc 0, whichwould complete the aggregateon line 2 of Figure
8-13 of TheFourthof July (Ex. 12a). First, the interval-5cycle 6, appears not in chord d but as the lowest note of the subse-
of chord a (Ex. 15) "wrapsaround,"or connects at the top, to quent sonorityand of every chordfor the remainderof the pas-
its inverse, the interval-7cycle of chord b, as between mm. 8 sage. This impliedcontinuationof the cycle connectingchordsc
and 10 or 12 and 13 of TheFourthof July. Then the 7/6 cycle of and d thus extends a wraparoundprocess that includes cyclic
chordc similarlywrapsaroundto the 5/6 cycle in chordd. Lines linkagesbetween a and b and between c and d in the upperreg-
1 and 2 of Figure6 summarizethese connections,with brackets istersand common-tonelinkagesbetween b and c and between
and chord labels indicatingpositions of chords within the cy- c and d in the lower registers.With the arrivalof the pc 0 bass
cles. Because two connected sonoritiesexhibit converseregis- "anchor"in chord e, subsequent chords do not wrap around
traldistributionsof pitch-classorder,the lowernotes in the mu- but continue the low-registercommon-toneconnections,with
sic are those of the outer portionsof the cycle as it is notated in some associationbetween adjacencies.Chorde, for example,
the figure, and the higher notes appeartogether in the center. exhibits the 4/5 cycle notated on line 3 of Figure6, which con-
In line 1, chord a encompasses the firstseven elements of the nects in the bass clef to four common tones of chord f. Thus f
interval-5cycle and b spans the other five plus two repetitions begins identically to e on line 3 of the figure with pcs
Resources 73
Figure 6. Cyclic relationships of simultaneities in Example 15.
bass a. sopr.
1. int.-5cycle: pc 1 6 11 4 9 2 7 0 5 10 3 8 (1) (6)
I
sopr. b. bass
bass c. sopr.
2. 7/6 comb. cycle: pc 6 1 7 2 I
8 3 91 4 10 5 11 6 [0]
d. bass \
sopr.
m
- - - - A'
bass - (e. sopr.
3. 4/5 comb. cycle: pc 0' 4 9 1 6 10 3 7
If. / /
f. (bass clef) / k v
/ /
/ //f. (top 6 notes)
4. 4/9 comb. cycle: pc 9 1 10 2 11 3
<0,4,9,1>, but then shifts to line 4, with pcs <9,1> overlap- begin with the Grit Chord (GC) begin with its literal comple-
ping to become the beginningof a 4/9 alternationin the upper ment (GCC). Example 16 gives the opening of variation1, dis-
register. playing GC on the firstbeats of mm. 7 and 9 and GCC on the
Other portions of In re, while by no means uniformlycon- first beat of m. 8 and on the second beat cl m. 9. The two
ceived, maintainsome degree of cyclicunderpinning.Common sonorities appear together in this type of pairing (without
to most of the variationsis the recurrenceof a sonorityIves calls change in pc content) in most subsequent appearances, the
the "GritChord,"which is frequentlyused to articulatethe be- only possible variable being the registral distributionof the
ginningof a unit of the PS.58In variation1, for example, meter pitch classes of GCC.
changes project the PS, so that the beginningof each measure In keeping with the cyclic natureof other structuralaspects
signals a new PS unit.59Measures in this variationthat do not of the work, GC is formed from eight notes, in registralorder
from low to high, of the 7/6 combinationcycle beginningon pc
0. Upward stems in Figure 7 extract GC from a 7/6 cycle that
58Ives,Memos, 101.
59ThePS determinesthe numberof beats per measurein variation1, begin- continues to the point of aggregate completion, one element
ning with 6 meter (2 beats), (3 beats), 15(5 beats), and so forth. See Rinehart, past the repetitionof pc 0 (PCL = 11). GCC (downwardstems
Ives's CompositionalIdioms," 50-51. in the figure) then contains the remainingpitch classes of the
\
Example 16. In re con moto et al, variation1, mm. 7-9. tritone that occurswithin GCC (dyad d), and the tritonein the
second violin (dyade) formedfrompc 6 of GCC andpc 0 on the
next beat. This segmentationamasses five of the six available
inf
tritones, avoidingthroughoutthe measurethe pcs 3 and 9 that
are inherentlyabsent from GC.
The most strikingevidence of intervalcycles in Ives's music
comes in the form of a compositional"model"that seems con-
mf tinuouslyto have occupiedhis interest.His earliestinspirations
towardthe structureof the model are suggestedby several ac-
c' b;o. . v counts in Memos of experimentshe conducted together with
his father, including, for example, recollectionsof chord suc-
mf cessions constructed from "3rds all and over, then 3rds and
2nds, then 3rds and 4ths, then 3rds and 4ths and 5ths, etc."60
Such patternsof gradualchange in intervalsize evolved into a
) V-_- -I I model of chord succession, the broad outlines of which main-
mf [GC,GCC] tain some degree of uniformityin a varietyof musicalcontexts.
[GC] [GCC] [GC, GCC]
Most generally, the model is comprisedof successiveverticali-
ties formedfromsingle-intervalor combinationcycles, withthe
sizes of the generatingintervalsgraduallyincreasingor decreas-
cycle, includinga pc 3 that GC omitsfromits otherwisecontigu- ing in established increments.The patterntypicallydisplaysa
ous extraction, and excluding the redundantpc 0. The cyclic symmetricalstructureby reversingitself followingthe arrivalat
source does not determinethe registralorderingof GCC. a high or low point of intervalsize. If the numberof voices in
Portions of the variationsthat are not restatementsof GC the chords remains constant-including octave doublingsfor
and GCC may further perpetuate a connection with a cyclic smaller cardinalities-the expansion-contractionprocess may
sourcethroughconsistentrestatementof the primaryintervals. be displayedas a registral"wedge"shape outlinedby the verti-
Measure9, for example (Ex. 16), can be subdividedalmostex- cal span of each chord. If the chord voicingsare flexible, how-
clusively into tritones (interval6), startingwith those that are ever, the process may occur within sonorities that exhibit no
inherent in GC and GCC, and continuingthrough the struc- significantchanges in verticalspan, only internalchangesin in-
turesin the remainderof the measure.Each circledandlabeled tervallicstructure.
dyad in Example 16 highlightsan occurrenceof a tritone be- The prime-numberseries in In re con moto et al is a variant
tween registrallyand/ortemporallyassociatedpitches. Follow- of the model, with the pattern of change determiningaspects
ing the completion of the aggregatefrom GC/GCC, the dyads other than intervallicstructure.Of course, the first setting of
reiteratepitch classes from the firstpartof the measure,effect- the PS shown in Example 15 does exhibit a general patternof
ing a redistributionof those same intervals:dyadsf, h, andg are intervallic change in support of the durationalpattern. The
pitch-classequivalentto a, b, and c, respectively.Figure8 plots
each dyad on the 7/6 cycle, includingthe three reiterations,the 60Ives, Memos, 120.
Resources 75
Figure 7. 7/6 combination cycle (portion), GC/GCC extraction.
GC: I I I I I (SC 8-29)

7/6: pc 0I 7 1 8 2 9 3 3 10 4 11 5 0 6
GCC: I I * I
(SC 4-29)
*repetition (PCL = 11)
Figure 8. Tritones within 7/6 combination cycle.

GC
I I I I I
GCC
I I I
a b c
rI II
7/6: 0 7 1 8 2 9 3 10 44 11 5 0 6
I I dI I
f h g d e
more standard version mixes cycles of single intervals with Versions of the patternin other later works might add, for ex-
closely associated combinationsto intensifythe gradualnature ample, a 1/2 cycle between 1/1 and 2/2 to fill in the gap between
of the process. This is displayedin the earlychoralworkProces- sums 2 and 4, though, of course, some potential fill-ins(for in-
sional ("Let there be Light," 1901)and in a broadersense in the stance, 6/6) will have undesirablylow PCL values.
still earlierPsalm24, the beginningof whichis shown in Exam- Includedamonglatersettingsof the model are an attemptat
ple 8. The growthprocess in the Psalm, which is displayedin a integratingpatternsof pitch and rhythmin Overthe Pavements
linear, not verticalform, is observablein the nonmodularsums (1906-13)61 and a programmaticassociation of the model's
of the x/y values on which each verse is based, treatingevery "wedge" shape with a specific scenario in Tone Roads No. 3
intervallic repetition as a combination cycle. The chromatic (1915).62Nowhere is the model more pervasive,however, than
scale of verse 1 is sum 2 (x/y = 1/1; 1 + 1 = 2), the whole tone
of verse 2 is sum 4 (x/y = 2/2; 2 + 2 = 4), and so on, compiling
the following progressionof sums in the firstseven verses: 61See the bassoon, clarinet, and trumpet parts, mm. 81-92. (Rinehart,
"Ives's CompositionalIdioms," 44-46, 91-93.)
verse: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 62Ivesdescribesthe scenarioin Memos, 64; the model is most noticeablein
mm. 24-26 but is present elsewhere in the piece in variantforms. Some other
combinationcycle: 1/1 2/2 3/3 4/3 5/5 6/5 7/7 occurrencesof the model are: CentralPark in the Dark (1906), mm. 1-10 and
subsequentrepetitions of the ten-barstringpattern;Soliloquy (1907), mm. 6-
sums: 2 4 6 7 10 11 14 7; Robert Browning Overture(1908-12), linearly in the upper strings, mm.
in the song On the Antipodes (1915-23), which, according to which generally adopt the composer's markings in the
the composer, is based on a "chordal cycle for a symphony."63 sketches,67show that a complete symmetricalarrangementis
The "chordal cycle" is an extensive intervallic contraction- disruptedwhen chordI (3/1) is replacedby L (2/2) in the second
expansion pattern that occurs three times in the song, appar- half. This does not, however, disruptthe regularprogressionof
ently realizing ideas that were initially conceived for the incom- sums from 14 to 2 and back, which skips only 8 and 12.68In-
plete Universe Symphony (1911-28).64 In both the song and the deed, the varietyof sums portraysthe diversityof cycles used;
Symphony, Ives expounds upon universal themes related to the these range through most of the possible n values (omitting
forces of nature and processes of life, and seems to regard the only 0 and 8, inferablefrom the absenceof sums 12 and 8), and
intervallic model as a symbol of some of these cosmic powers. includingthe wide range of PCL values listed on the bottom
The subjects of the composer's text for the song are the "antip- line of the figure.The intervalsthemselvesaremostlythe famil-
odal" aspects of nature, described as paradoxical extremes: iar structuresfound in other realizationsof the model, includ-
nature is both "relentless" and "kind," nature is man's "en- ing the circleof fifths(chordsA and D), cyclesof 7/6 and 6/5 (B
emy," but also his "friend," and so forth. The text concludes and C), and the half-stepclusterat the midpoint(K). ChordsE
that nature is "nothing but atomic cosmic cycles" revolving be- and J are octatonic collections, and L is whole-tone. To main-
tween the many antipodes, advancing a cyclic view of natural tain the regularityof changes in sums, the successioneven in-
evolution that is appropriately mirrored by the many cyclic cludes a less familiarstructurewith a PCLof only 4 at chordG,
pitch constructions in the musical setting.65 a whole-tone subset (4-25 [0,2,6,8]).
Ives uses the "chordal cycle" at the beginning and end (the The realizationsof this model at the beginningandcenterof
"antipodes") of the song, and in the center. The first and sec- the song exhibit substantial variations in the ranges of the
ond statements, which are identical in pitch-class content, pro- chords and do not consistentlyproject the complete cycles of
ject the structure outlined in Figure 9, progressing from perfect
fifths to a semitonal cluster in the center of the symmetrical pat-
tern and then returning to fifths.66The upper-case letter labels,
final "crystallized"version of the pattern (mm. 28-34) and is not part of the
symmetricallyrelated series of sums.
Figure 9 reflects observations common to several analyses of this work:
119-136, 312-330, 384-390; The Fourth of July (1911-13), m. 20. Some of Rinehart, "Ives's CompositionalIdioms," 71-86; Domenick Argento, "A Di-
these are describedin NachumSchoffman,"Serialismin the Worksof Charles gest Analysis of Ives's 'On the Antipodes,' " StudentMusicologistsat Minne-
Ives," Tempo 138 (September 1981), 21-32. sota 6 (1975-76), 192-200; Hitchcock, Ives: A Survey of the Music, 18-20;
63CharlesIves, Nineteen Songs (Bryn Mawr, Pa.: Merion Music, 1935), Schoffman, "The Songs of Ives," 209-234; and Schoffman, "Serialismin
[52]. Ives," 28-29. By contrast, the emphasishere is placed on the cyclic natureof
64See, for example, page q3039 of the Universe Symphony sketches each chord construction,not merely on its intervalliccontent.
(Kirkpatrick,Catalogue,27). 67Kirkpatrick, Catalogue,210: q2908, q3048. Ives makesa distinction(with
65Forfurthercommentaryon the text, see Hitchcock,Ives:A Surveyof the superscripts)between separateuses of the same intervalsand does not use the
Music, 18-20, and Nachum Schoffman, "The Songs of CharlesIves" (Ph.D. letter L.
dissertation,Hebrew Universityof Jerusalem,1977), 233. 68Thesuccession is provided with even finer gradationsin the version in-
66Also, the final statement of chord A is preceded by a chord of stacked tended for the UniverseSymphonyby the inclusionof chordswith quarter-tone
interval 11s; this has been omitted from Figure 9 because it is absent from the intervals. (Kirkpatrick,Catalogue,27: q3039.)
Resources 77
Figure 9. On the Antipodes, chordal cycle.
label: A B C D E FG H I J K JL H G F E D C B A
7 6 5 5 4 3 4 2 1 2 1 2 2 2 4 3 4 5 5 6 7
7 7 6 5 5 4 2 3 3 1 1 1 2 3 2 4 5 5 6 7 7
sums: 14 13 11 10 9 7 6 5 4 3 2 34 5 6 7 9 10 11 13 14
PCL: 12 11 12 12 8 8 4 6 6 8 12 8 6 6 4 8 8 12 12 11 12
each intervallicstructure.69Some of the changesare motivated con moto etal (Ex. 15). ChordsA and D, for example, are com-
by registral concerns: the realizations generally outline plete interval-7and interval-5cycles that returnto pc 0 when
contracting-expandingwedge shapes, with the exceptionof the continued one step further,implyinga linkageto the bass note
centralcluster. Also influencinginconsistenciesare the choices of the ensuing verticality. The same is true of the 6/5 cycle of
of pitch classes in the upper voice, which unfold the aggregate chord C: the final upper interval 5 (C#6-F#6, m. 29 beat 1)
with one repetition.70 would be followed by interval 6 to return to pc 0. In other
The final realizationof the model, reproducedas Example sonorities the returnto pc 0 occurswithin the chord, either as
17 with chord labels added, maximizes the registral span of the upper voice or as a result of extensive repetitionof a small
each chord with pitch-classrepetitionsthat may extend beyond PCL. Chord B (7/6) contains pc 0 in both top and bottom
the PCLs. Accompanying a vocal line that asks the climactic voices, its only pc duplication.The arpeggiatedstatementof H
textual question,71the four-hand piano part presents chords (PCL = 6) in m. 30 continues far beyond its firstpc repetition
structuredaccordingto the outline of Figure 9, except that I (E! 3), cyclingthroughseveralpc duplicationsbefore returning
and L exchangepositions. Unique to this realizationis the pc 0, to pc 0 as the highest note. Chordsthat repeatwithinan octave
which, as the lowest voice of every chord (doubled by an op- and that may therefore contain several instancesof pc 0 are G
tional organ pedal), serves as the point of departurefor each (4/2, PCL = 4), I (3/1, PCL = 6), J (1/2, PCL = 8), and L (2/2,
cycle in the pattern. PCL = 6); of these, only G contains pc 0 in the top voice, al-
In addition, many of the sonorities exhibit or imply an though each includes pc 0 at last twice in inner voices. The re-
upward-directedcyclicreturnto the pc-0point of origin,similar mainingchords are E (5/4, PCL = 8), whichcyclespast pc 0, F
to the "wraparounds"in TheFourthof July (Ex. 12) and In re (4/3, PCL = 8), which stops short of a return to the starting
point, and K, the four-octave semitonal cluster that includes
69Thescore of these versions is reproducedin Argento, "A Digest Analy- several instancesof pc 0, but with pc 1 in the uppervoice.
sis," 201-203 and Schoffman, "Serialismin Ives," 28. The series of cycles based on successivelysmallerintervals
70Thisobservationis made in Schoffman,"The Songs of Ives," 216-217.
71Thevocal line is divided into two parts, both of which produce aggre- that returnto the same pitch-classanchorprojectsthe idea ex-
gates. See Hitchcock, Ives:A Surveyof the Music, 19-20. The aggregatein the pressed in the text of "atomic,cosmic cycles"as a "spiral"pro-
upperline is formed by adjacent [0,1,4] trichords. gressing inward from cycles of larger intervals to those with
Example 17. On theAntipodes, mm. 28-34.

3---- r-- cresc.
28 $hLargo maestoso , <29 _f-^ I 1 30
30 I r-3 - L_-
Man! we ask you! Is Na - ture noth-ing but a - tom - ic cos - mic cy - cles _____
loco" * f I
$n/ E--Ip
tt8 t=fft = S i I cresc.
maestoso
Largo
cresc.
' b
it"F -i lt"bi
d i 4
(Org. ad lib.)
(16' and 32' only)
(Org.Ped.) - _- -
[A B C D E F G H
smaller units of repetition. Figure 10 illustratesthis process, The overall form of On the Antipodesis furthertied to the
which primarily reflects the changes in interval sizes-as chordalcycle through a "composingout" process that distrib-
reflected by the sums-not the sizes of the PCLs or the cardi- utes the sonoritiesinto the texture much as the interval-5cycle
nalities of complete combinations.Chord A, cycle 7/7, forms structuresthe introductionof In re con moto et al (Ex. 14). As
the outer layer of the spiral, and its returnto pc 0 after a com- explainedby Argento, the passagesbetween statementsof the
plete revolutioncoincideswith the beginningof the next mem- chord are entirely based on the structuresof the chordsthem-
ber of the chord succession, the 7/6 cycle of chord B, on the selves, so that almost every aspect of the song is connected to
next inner layer. Each successive layer correspondsto each the cyclicpattern.72In the two measuresimmediatelyfollowing
subsequentchord, followingthe processof gradualreductionin the initial presentation of the chords, for example, the A, B,
sums, so that each member of the chordalcycle is represented and C sonorities accountfor most of the pitch materialsof the
by one revolution in the spiral. The chordsspiral "inward"in
the firsthalf of the pattern, and then reversedirectionto return 72"A Digest Analysis," 198-200. Only mm. 14-17 are not derived from the
to the outer layer at the conclusionof the chordsequence. chordal cycle.
Resources 79
Example 17. (cont'd.)
L J K
accompaniment.Example 18 locates A and B in m. 5 and C in measure with pitch-class reiterations, often recalling the pri-
m. 6 with indicationsof order positions withinthe three cycles maryintervalsof the source sonority.
notated beneath the score. Because the registralplacementof Derivationsin the remainderof the song follow similarpro-
each pitch class generally correspondsto that of the original cedures, either continuingthe variedarpeggiationsor redistrib-
chord sequence, these occurrencesproject a kind of varied ar- uting the source more extensively, while continuingto uphold
peggiation of the source sonorities. Often, this producesa tri- distinctivefeatures of each structure.These sources appearin
chordaldistributionof the chords,highlightinga singletrichord their originalorder (Fig. 9), so that the entire song projects an
type; any three adjacentpitch classes in the B and C chordsof expanded, elaborated macrocosmof the chordal cycle.73The
Example 18, for example, form a 3-5 [0,1,6] trichord, and series of derivationselaboratesroughlythe firsthalf of the se-
these are prominentlydisplayedin mm. 5 and 6, observableas
adjacentops. The remaining(uncircled)notes then fill out the 73See Argento, "A Digest Analysis."
Figure 10. "Spiral"of combinationcycles. Example 18. On theAntipodes,mm. 5-6.

Allegro r-- 33 Andante
quence, chords A through K plus a return of J, between the 7/6) /)

p 0
pc 7
1
2
2
8
3
3
4
9
5
4
6
10
7
5
8
11
9
6
10
0
11
7
statementsof the chordalcycle at the beginningand midpoint,
and then elaborates the remainderof the sequence, chords L op 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
(6/5) C: pc 1 7 0 6 11 5 10 4 9 3 8 2
back to A, precedingthe final statement of the chordalcycle.
(The returnto A initiatesthe finalstatementof the chords.)Cy-
clic principlesthus permeate musicalrelationshipsin the verti- surfacefilled with antipodalcontrastsis a coherentdesignthat
cal, or chordal dimension, and in the horizontaldimensionas can be understood as "nothing but. . . cycles."74
the "cyclic"palindromicstructureof the chord pattern, all of The association, in On theAntipodes,of cyclicpitch deriva-
which extends from small to large structurallevels. By impart-
ing these qualities to the song, Ives likewise characterizesna- 74Quotedfrom the last line of the text (see Ex. 17). This interpretationis
ture as ordered and logical despite complexitiesand contradic- adapted from Hitchcock (Ives: A Surveyof the Music, 17-18) and Schoffman
tions that seemingly defy explanation. Below the complicated ("The Songs of Ives," 233).
Resources 81
tions with nature and naturalprocessesrealizesa philosophical cyclicallyconceived structureprovides an underlyingcohesive

stance common to much of Ives's music and thought. Themes frameworkwithinwhich nonrepetitiveelements may grow and
related to nature, includingspecificpictorialimages and refer- evolve, just as a time period such as a day can encompassvast
ences to abstractnaturalforces, appearwith familiarregularity changes within its cyclic boundaries.78These principles are
in the texts and concepts of his compositionsand in the philo- clearly displayedin In re con moto et al, where virtuallyevery
sophical positions of his writings, ultimately connecting to a measure participates in a pervasive constructional scheme
line of Transcendentalistthinkingin whichnaturereflectsa di- based on the Prime Series and articulatedwith the Grit Chord,
vine presence.75In the same specificway that a worksuch as On yet the methods of projectingthese unifyingthreads are com-
the Antipodes displays an underlyingunity of cyclic pitch con- plex and diverse. Nature, accordingto Ives, despite its funda-
struction,this view recognizesa cyclicunityin natureembodied mental cyclic character,"loves analogy and hates repetition,"
in planetaryorbits and the resultingcyclicpassageof time over and any musicalreflectionof naturalprocesseswouldtherefore
the course of a day or year, as well as in the "life cycles"of liv- reconcile the necessity of growthwith the universalityof cyclic
ing organisms. Ives meant to make his most extensive state- return .79
ment on such natural laws in the UniverseSymphony, which Ultimately, Ives's cyclic pitch derivationsreflect principles
would "tracewith tonal imprintsthe ... evolution of all life, of pitch structure that are richly attractive to a composer
in natureof humanityfromthe greatroots of life to the spiritual searchingfor nontonal methods of organization.Extramusical
eternities."76The cyclic structuresnotated on the sketch page considerations,such as points of action providedby a program
of the Symphonyshown in Example 11 above were intendedto or scenario, might suggest a structuralframeworkin the ab-
representthe "body of the earth," and subsequentmusicalre- sence of tonality, but would not providethe inherentand natu-
alizations of these structureswould then depict the formation ral logic of the tonal system. With cyclic intervallicrepetitions
of the "rocks,trees and mountains"out of the initialrawmate- the techniques of pitch organization, including methods of
rials.77As the Symphony evolves, the seminal function of the pitch-classexhaustion, are given a logical and naturalimpetus
cyclicpitch structuresparallelsa cyclicunderpinningfor natural from the varioussubdivisionsof the octave into equalpartsand
laws. the extension of these principles to produce cyclic combina-
Implicitin this perspective,and an importantaspectof Ives's
cosmic musical metaphor, is a juxtapositionof the concepts of
evolution and revolution, for the concept of a cyclicrevolution
does not necessarily imply a complete and literal return to a
78AudreyDavidson makes this point in "TranscendentalUnity in the
point of origin, exclusive of any evolution or growth. Rather, a Worksof CharlesIves," AmericanQuarterly22 (Spring1970), 35-44.
79CharlesE. Ives, Essays beforeA Sonata, The Majority,and OtherWrit-
ings, ed. HowardBoatwright(New York: Norton, 1970), 22. "Repetition"is a
frequent target of criticismin Ives's writings,especiallywhen referringto the
75Ives'sadherence to "Transcendentalist"beliefs, as expressed in his Es- conventions of common-practicetonality. In his essay on quarter-tonehar-
says before A Sonata, recognizes the importanceof nature along with other mony, for example, he criticizes"the dragof repetitionin manyphasesof art,"
centralthemes, thoughthese do not necessarilyform a coherent"philosophy." findingan absence of an essential "organicflow" (Essays, 115). The repetitive
See Burkholder, CharlesIves: TheIdeas Behind the Music, 20-32. natureof many of his compositionalexperiments,however, makesit clear that
76Kirkpatrick,Catalogue,27. he does not reject all forms of repetition;rather,he objects to easy relianceon
7Memos, 107. traditionalmusicalmaterials-repetition withoutinspiration.
tions. Coupled with their analogies to forces of nature, the cy- ing compositional concerns for coherence through repetition and
clic procedures provide a fertile area for experimentation, and pitch-class variety. Ives experiments both with the familiarinterval
they constitute a central organizing principle for some of Ives's cycles and with cycles of two alternatingintervals, or "combination
most profound musical expressions. cycles." Musical usages include straightforwardcyclic presentations
as well as developments of cyclically generated structuralframe-
works. In his most sophisticated cyclic experiments, includingIn re
ABSTRACT con moto et al, On theAntipodes, and the UniverseSymphony,cycles
In the "experimental"music of Charles Ives, interval patterns and and cyclic principlesare centralto the musicaland metaphoricalsub-
particularintervallic combinationsoften serve as primarystructural stance, mirroringpervasive elements of Ives's attitudes toward art
forces. Particularlyprevalentare cyclicintervallicrepetitions,reflect- and nature.

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Society for Music Theory

Interval Cycles as Compositional Resources in the Music of Charles Ives

Example 3. Second StringQuartet,thirdmovement,mm. 123-126.

Example 4. Song in 5's. scale, eventually stating an augmentedtriad on each of the 12

Example 5. Psalm54, mm. 1-6.

I III I III I III

name, and judge me by thy strength,

Example 6. StudyNo. 20, mm. 6-14.

Example 8. Psalm24, verse 1, two-stavereduction.

Figure 2. 4/3 combination cycle.

Table 1. Valuesfor x/y andPCLin combinationcycles.

1 0/1, 1 1/0, 2 2/11,4 3/10,6 4/9,8 5/E

2 0/2, 1 2/0, 2 4/10,4 6/8, 6 8/6, 5 10/,4,3

3 0/3, 1 3/0, 2 6/9, 4 9/6, 3

4 0/4, 1 4/0, 2 8/8, 3

8 0/8, 1 8/0, 2 4/4, 3

9 0/9, 1 9/0, 2 6/3, 4 3/6, 3

10 0/10,1 10/0, 2 8/2, 4 6/4, 6 4/6, 5 2/8, 3

T1I (0-1) (2-11) (3-10) (4-9) (5-8) (6-7)

Figure 3. PCL calculations.

b. 9/8 combination cycle.

Figure 4. PCL calculations for smaller cardinalities.

Example 9. Musicalapplicationsof combinationcycles.

b. Overthe Pavements,mm. 18-22, clarinet(concertpitch).

44Kirkpatrick,Catalogue,96 (Cat. No. 3B16ii). This work, the full title of

Example 10. Rough and Ready, mm. 8-15, righthand.

x/y= 3 / 7 (n = 10) PCL = 12

Example 11. UniverseSymphony,sketchpage q3038,literaltranscription.

Figure 5. Summary of cycles in Example 11.

a. Lines 1-2. f. Lines 11-12.

b. Lines 5-6. g. Lines 15-16.

c. Lines 7-8. h. Lines 15-16.

d. Lines 7-8. i. Lines 15-16.

e. Lines 11-12. j. Lines 15-16.

Table 2. Summary of Figure 5 organized by PCL. sions of the combinationcyclesthatprecedethem, formingme-

voice is mostly independentof the chords.The notationsbelow int.5: pc 0 5 10 3 8 1 6 11 4 9 2 7 int.2: pc 0 2 4 6 8 10

Example 13. TheFourthof July, mm. 1-7, strings.

INT: <5 - 2 - 5> <5 - 10 - 5> <5 - 2 - 5>

Example 14. In re con moto et al, m. 1.

Example 15. In re con moto et al, mm. 2-6, condensedscore.

Figure 6. Cyclic relationships of simultaneities in Example 15.

Figure 7. 7/6 combination cycle (portion), GC/GCC extraction.

GC: I I I I I (SC 8-29)

Figure 8. Tritones within 7/6 combination cycle.

Figure 9. On the Antipodes, chordal cycle.

Example 17. On theAntipodes, mm. 28-34.

Example 17. (cont'd.)

Figure 10. "Spiral"of combinationcycles. Example 18. On theAntipodes,mm. 5-6.

quence, chords A through K plus a return of J, between the 7/6) /)

tions with nature and naturalprocessesrealizesa philosophical cyclicallyconceived structureprovides an underlyingcohesive

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