Old Home Days

Old Home Days is a composition for the wind band/ensemble medium that consists of works composed by Charles Ives. They were set for wind bands/ensembles by Jonathon Elkus, a scholar who is greatly interested in Ives and his compositions.

Related Topics:
Charles Ives - Jonathon Elkus

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1. "Waltz" - The up-tempo waltz is intended the create the aural sensation of a wedding and the ensuing party.

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2. "The Opera House/Old Home Day" - Ives chose to capture the excitement of the curtain rising at an opera in "The Opera House," only to be interrupted by a roll-off from the percussion section that leads into "Old Home Day," which is believed to draw upon Ives' experiences while in his native Connecticut, where his father was a bandmaster.

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3. "The Collection" - Through the use of expressive markings such as "Response by Village Choir," Ives creates a unique aural expereince that depicts the passing of a collection plate during a religious ceremony.

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4. "Slow March" - This, the oldest known work composed by Charles Ives, was written in 1888 for the funeral of Chin-Chin, his childhood cat. Ives' lyrics for the march begin, "One evening just at sunset, we laid him in the grave; although a humble animal, his heart was true and brave."

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5. "London Bridge Is Fallen Down!" - The final movement is a decidedly Ives arrangement of the familiar tune--vexing and dissonant!

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The approximate performance time for Old Home Days is between four and six minutes, depending on the interpretation and the technical ablities of the group.

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