Ives String Quartet No. 1

Performance of Ives String Quartet No. 1 from the 2024 Taos School of Music and Chamber Music Festival season.
Fiona Shea and Jihyun Baik, violins
Vincenzo Keawe Calcagno, viola
Claire Park, cello
taosschoolofmusic.com
Charles Ives's String Quartet No. 1, titled "From the Salvation Army,” is a pioneering work in American classical music, composed around 1896 while Ives was a student at Yale. It reflects Ives's innovative approach to composition, blending traditional European forms with distinctly American elements such as hymn tunes, folk melodies, and experimental harmonies. The quartet is characterized by its bold contrasts, complex polyrhythms, and unconventional use of dissonance, which challenged the norms of its time. Through these contrasts, Ives invites listeners on a journey that oscillates between moments of serene beauty and turbulent intensity, capturing both the emotive depth and forward-thinking spirit that characterize his music. Despite its initial reception, the String Quartet No. 1 is now recognized as a seminal piece that foreshadowed Ives's later groundbreaking contributions to 20th-century music.