Ed Zubrow writes: >... when I listen to the music of an American composer such as Charles >Ives, I find that the folk tunes, spirituals and hymns which are quoted >are distracting. I can't avoid pausing and thinking: "A ha! There is >Turkey in the Straw." > >How do others feel about this and what might I do to get past it? An observation or two which I hope are at least somewhat relevant -- About two weeks ago, the Wheaton College Symphony Orchestra performed Ives's Third Symphony, "Camp Meeting," which to my ears has always seemed [flameguard rising into protective position] the least effective of the four symphonies. As I listened, I realized that the older members of the audience in this largely evangelical Protestant community knew most if not all of the quoted tunes, I knew many, my somewhat younger wife knew even fewer, and many of my students perhaps only "Just as I am." Certainly part of the symphony's effect relies on the nostalgia induced by hearing half-remembered meoldies from one's youth. I found myself wondering how this piece played to our youngest listeners, and how it would affect those raised either outside our immediate sub-culture, or at a greater distance from American culture in general. It seems to me that the further the listener is from the musical culture being referenced by a particular piece, the more that piece has to work on purely musical merits, apart from other associations. With Dvorak and Bartok, I can somehow delight in the characteristic rhythms and melodic patterns without knowing a great deal of detail about them. When Dvorak works a furiant into the Piano Quintet, it turns out to be great, compellingly structured music which just happens to use folk ideas. I'm sure that at least some of Ives's music works in a similar fashion -- how can anyone not get swept up in the fun that is the last five minutes or so of the Second Symphony? However, I have yet to be convinced about the Third. Is the musical argument compelling enough if one cannot count on a nostalgic reaction to its materials? DPHorn, who never met a folk-tune he didn't like.