Postlude in F

Charles Ives

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General Info

Year: 1890-92 / 1991
Duration: c. 4:10
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Organ
Publisher: Associated Music Publishers Inc
Cost: Score and Parts - $45.00

Instrumentation

Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
Bassoon I-II
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
B-flat Cornet I-II-III
B-flat Trumpet I-II
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Timpani
Percussion I-II

(Percussion detail desired)

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

The Postlude in F dates from the period 1890-92. This was during Ives prime as a church organist, having composed his famous Variations on “America” the same year. It is probable that Ives composed and/or experimented with many organ works that never saw the light of day, but the Postlude survived in an orchestration Ives made in a college instrumentation class (1896-97), leading one to conclude that he thought enough of it to rescore it. Although Ives was generally critical of Wagner, the Postlude in F bears a strong European imprint that Ives biographer Jan Swafford finds reminiscent of Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll. We know that European influences were, in part, his own inclinations at the time.

The setting for band was made by Kenneth Singleton, Director of Bands at the University of Northern Colorado.

- Program Note by Kenneth Singleton

A lost organ work that he had composed and played in Danbury in his mid-teens survives as an orchestration assignment for Professor Parker. If Parker indeed held a reading with the New Haven Orchestra (as noted in Ives's later memorandum) it would have been one of the few opportunities Ives ever had to hear a work of his played by a large symphonic complement. Interestingly, a strong French element is already heard in its chromatic palette to the church and Sunday parlor adaptations of Saint-Saens and Massenet.

-Program note by Jonathan Elkus

Commercial Discography

Audio CD: "The President's Own" United States Marine Band (Col. Timothy W. Foley, Director)

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Stephen F. Austin State University (Nacogdoches, Tx.) Wind Ensemble (Tamey Anglley, conductor) – 9 February 2023 (2023 TMEA Conference, San Antonio)
Indiana University of Pennsylvania Wind Ensemble (Timothy Paul, conductor) – 9 March 2018 (CBDNA 2018 Eastern Conference, New Haven, Conn.)
Western Kentucky University (Bowling Green) (Gary Schallert, conductor) – 20 February 2016 (CBDNA 2016 Southern Division Conference, Charleston, S.C.)

Works for Winds by This Composer

The Alcotts (tr. Elkus) (1920/1947)
The Alcotts (tr. Thurston) (1920/1972)
Charlie Rutlage (tr. Sinclair)
A Christmas Carol (tr. Paxton) (1922/2016)
The Circus Band (tr. Elkus)
A Concord Symphony (tr. Patterson) (1920/2010)
"Country Band" March (tr. Sinclair) (1903/1974)
Decoration Day (tr. Elkus)
Fantasia on "Jerusalem the Golden" (1888)
Finale from "Symphony No. 2" (tr. Elkus) (1907/1974)
Four Eccentric Songs (tr. Paxton) (1922/2016)
Fugue in C (arr. Sinclair) (1900/1992)
Here's to Good Ol' Yale: See: March 6: Here's to Good Ol' Yale
In the Mornin' (arr. Singleton) (1929)
Lento Maestoso and Finale from "Symphony No. 2" (tr. Elkus) (1907/1974/2001)
March 6: Here's to Good Ol' Yale (tr. Elkus) (1897/2003)
March Intercollegiate (ed. Brion) (1892(?)/1973)
Memories, Very Pleasant and and Rather Sad (arr. Elkus) (1922/2011?)
Old Fashioned Hymns (tr. Paxton) (1922/2016)
Old Home Days (arr. Elkus) (1954)
Omega Lambda Chi (ed. Brion) (1896/1974)
Overture and March "1776" (tr. Sinclair) (1904/1910)
Postlude in F (tr. Singleton) (1890-92/1991)
Ragtime Dance No. 4 (trans. Sinclair) (?/1990)
Runaway Horse on Main Street (1908)
A Son of a Gambolier (arr. Elkus) (1892/1962)
Symphony No. 2. See: Lento Maestoso and Finale from "Symphony No. 2" and Finale from "Symphony No. 2"
They are There! (arr. Sinclair)
The Unanswered Question (1908/1935/1989)
Variations on "America" (orch. Schuman, tr. Rhoads) (1891/1968)
Variations on "Jerusalem the Golden" (tr. Brion) (1900/1974)

Resources

Charles Ives Society website
Ives, C.; Singleton, K. (1991). Postlude in F [score]. Associated Music Publishers: New York.
"The President's Own" United States Marine Band program notes