Ives and Gervasoni

Deeply influenced by the idealism of the Transcendentalists, Ives drew inspiration from the main figures of this movement (the best-known being Emerson and Thoreau) for what was to become his monumental Second Piano Sonata (Concord Sonata), for which he wrote a long preface that he published separately: the Essays before a sonatawhich combine aesthetic, theological, philosophical, social and political reflections. They may not shine for their coherence, but their sincerity is touching. The free associations and numerous digressions are similar to his music: a vital momentum that encompasses both lofty thoughts and more trivial statements, and is brimming with quotations. With the exception of the long epilogue, where he lets a few resentments show, he favors, like the Transcendentalists, an open, unrestricted curiosity.

In addition to the revised translation of Teststhis volume contains two shorter texts, one on spatialization and the other on the use of quarter tones, as well as extracts from Memos (comments by Ives on his life, works and opinions) on the Concord Sonata and extensive notes (an indispensable critical apparatus, as Ives' quotations from various authors are often imprecise, even fanciful). The importance of this publication is heightened by the fact that Ives, like many non-European composers, has been totally neglected by French-language musicography.

The personal use of materials and their historical and emotional significance, the semantic dimension, the expressiveness, the inventiveness in sonorities and timbre combinations, are some of the constants in the language of Stefano Gervasoni, whose music, of great clarity, brings together quotations and elements from the past and the present (with, for example, influences from Fado), and takes the side of simplicity. The Italian composer, born in 1962, has often been premiered and programmed by the Ensemble Contrechamps, whose editions offer a monograph written by Philippe Albèra. More than two-thirds of the book is devoted to an analysis of a number of emblematic works, describing the trajectory of his development, with reflections on one or other aspect of his compositional stakes, as a deepening of the other important part of the work, which deciphers some of the key concepts that enable a better understanding of Gervasonian aesthetics (sonority, repetition and difference, form, rewriting, memory, etc.). The book is rounded off by enriching reflections by the author in the introduction and epilogue, as well as a catalog of the Bergamasque composer's works.

Charles E. Ives: Essais avant une sonate, et autres textes, translated by Carlo Russi, Vivianna Aliberti, Dennis Collins and Sook Ji, 208 p., Fr. 18.00, Éditions Contrechamps, Genève 2016. ISBN 978-2-940068-49-4

Philippe Albèra: Le parti pris des sons. On the music of Stefano Gervasoni, 500 p., Fr. 28.00, Éditions Contrechamps, Geneva 2015, ISBN 978-2-940068-48-7