Charles Ives 10. "At the River" by Jay Poff - Watch Ives 1-14

"And he showed me a pure River of Water of Life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the Throne of God and of the Lamb." -- Rev. 22:1.

In 1869, Robert Lowery included this scripture at the heading of the publication of "Beautiful River". Today, many people know the hymn by its first line; "Shall We Gather at the River." This was one of Ives's favorite hymns; in 1905 he incorporated the tune into an instrumental work, which he later included in the third movement of his Fourth Violin Sonata. In 1916 he took the final 25 measures of the violin part, and adapted it for voice. The result was At the River and it was the first song that introduced Jay Poff to the music of Charles Ives. At that introduction, Jay needed a "gathering at the river" spiritually, emotionally, and physically. The study of this song provided a path to his cleansing, while also allowing him to gain a new perception of what constitutes "music." Ives once said, "...a song has a few rights the same as ordinary citizens...If it happens to feel like trying to fly where humans cannot fly, -- to sing what cannot be sung...and try to scale mountains that are not -- Who shall stop it! -- In short must a song always be a song!"

Jay Poff sings "At the River" - Accompanist Mary Beth Wicks

Bibliography / Discography for
"For Your Ives Only" - A Tribute to Charles E. Ives

Burkholder, J. Peter. Charles Ives - THE IDEAS BEHIND THE MUSIC.
Yale University Press, 1985.

Burkholder, J. Peter. Charles Ives and His World.
Princeton University Press, 1996.

Dickinson, Peter. Charles Ives Songs, Vol. 1.
Unicorn-Kanchana Records, London, 1991.

Dickinson, Peter, Charles Ives Songs, Vol. 2.
Unicorn-Kanchana Records, London, 1991.

Cowell, Henry. Charles Ives and his music.
Oxford University Press, Inc., 1955.

Feder, Stuart. Charles Ives: "My Father's Song" A Psychoanalytic Biography. Yale University Press, 1992.

Ives, Charles E., Kirkpatrick, John, Memos. W.W. Norton & Company, 1972.

Kronos Quartet. Black Angels. ELEKTRA ENTERTAINMENT, 1990.

Lambert, Philip. Ives Studies. Cambridge University Press, 1997.

Rossiter, Frank R. Charles Ives & His America.
George J McLeod Limited, 1975.

Sinclair, James. They are There!. Peer Music International, 1975.

Swafford, Jan. Charles Ives -- A Life with Music. W.W. Norton& Company, 1996.

Perlis, Vivian. Charles Ives Songs. Elektra/Asylum/Nonesuch Records, 1976.