Symposion on Charles Ives

The 50th anniversary of the death of Charles Ives (1874-1954) in 2004 is an occasion to attempt a new résumé of the history of the impact and special position of his work. The symposium ‘Ives & Consequences’ examines central views of Ives. On the one hand, it is about the symbolic - political, metaphysical and utopian qualities that Ives assigned to music; on the other hand, the question arises as to what real influence Ives had on the avant-garde and what significance he (still or again) has for today's composers.

The speakers will be Hans G Helms and Christian Wolff, Tom Johnson and Wolfgang Rathert, followed by a roundtable with prominent American and European performers and composers as well as musicologists.