Music by DANIEL DORFF |
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| Ives: Variations on "America" arranged for Melody Instrument and Piano | ||
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Charles Ives (1874-1954) was the organist at his church while in his teens, and he composed this set of organ variations during those years. Foreshadowing his later composition style, Ives's adolescent wit and experimentation is an engaging feature of this solo organ work. Variations on "America" remained fairly unknown until E. Power Biggs created an edition for Mercury Music, published in 1949. William Schuman later made an orchestral edition, which in turn spawned William Rhoads' band version of Schuman's take on the Biggs edition. Creating this version for Flute and Piano was more of a challenge then I'd anticipated, as Ives' thick organ textures and counterpoint required a lot of juggling of octaves and voicings. VARIATIONS ON "AMERICA" for Flute and Piano HEAR Pamela Youngblood and Gabriel Bita's recording on the Azica label. BUY from your favorite sheet music dealer, or direct from Presser. REVIEWS "The arrangement is quite faithful to the Ives score, and Dorff expertly altered the articulations in Variations 1 and 3 to more closely resemble the sound that would have been created by the organ. The addition of these slurs improves the fluidity of the melodic line and assists the retention of smooth phrases that are closer to the original intention of Ives when he composed the work in 1891. When teaching this piece, several key musical elements can be highlighted: 1. The student can be introduced to a genre of music that may be new for them via this arrangement of a standard work. 2. The student can become aware of the theme and variation technique in composition. 3. The student can experience changes in tonality with a firm footing in a well-known melody. 4. The student can experience meter changes as well as rhythmic alterations to the original melody. 5. The student can become aware of the compositional tools used by Ives as well as their relevance to music history and literature. The piece is appropriate as a teaching piece with students at the upper-intermediate level and as a performance piece for students who are advanced." – American Music Teacher (Alice M. Hammel), June-July 2007 VARIATIONS ON "AMERICA" for Trumpet and Piano Trumpet part edited by David Bilger, with parts for Bb and C Trumpets Bilger's adaptation follows the Schuman orchestration's trumpet solo exactly, making this a great way to practice the excerpt while performing a recital. INCLUDED in the NYSSMA state contest list. INCLUDED in JW Pepper's Basic Library. BUY from your favorite sheet music dealer, or direct from Presser. VARIATIONS ON "AMERICA" for Violin and Piano Violin part edited by Diane Monroe INCLUDED in the NYSSMA state contest list. BUY from your favorite sheet music dealer, or direct from Presser. REVIEWS "Daniel Dorff's arrangement for violin and piano retains much of the fresh-faced charm of Ives' original, not only in his five boisterous variations, but also in two brief piano interludes written with different keys in each hand. With clean layout and good page turns, this arrangement is a pleasure to play, and would make a sparkling addition to a concert program. It's suitable for advanced intermediate violinists, who will be grateful for the judicious editing on the part by Diane Monroe, a former member of the Uptown String Quartet." – Strings (Inge Kjemptrup), July 2009 | 
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last updated May 31, 2026 | ||
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