Wumbo Wednesday With Weaselo: 17th Century Avant-Garde

(Not to be confused, of course, with 21st Century Schizoid Man.)

This is Charles Ives’s “Putnam’s Camp, Redding, Connecticut” from his suite Three Places in New England. It’s one of his most well-known works that are not “The Unanswered Question” because it gives the sounds of two marching bands, playing two different pieces of music, in two different keys, in two different meters, on opposing street corners, coming together in cacophony. Or as the “cultured Classical scholars” call it, polytonality.

Like, that’s one of the three big things Ives is known for. Polytonality, “The Unanswered Question,” and that his Real Job was working for New York Life.

Interestingly enough though, he might not have claim to the first one, as I learned this semester.

This is Heinrich Biber’s Battalia. Three Places was written around 1911-14, revised in 1929, and premiered in 1931. This was written in 1673.

Absolute chaos, almost 250 years before Ives. Biber was weird, and notably not Justin. He wrote a series of sonatas for violin about Jesus and common Rosary practices, commonly known as the Rosary Sonatas or the Mystery Sonatas. Most of them have weird tunings, including one where you cross the middle two strings over each other for even weirder tuning. And that’s the Resurrection one.

I have not played any of them. A friend played one of them for her junior or senior recital at my undergrad. It was not this one. It would be absolute murder for modern instruments with modern, higher-tension, metal-wound strings. You need gut strings to play this one.

Okay, nerdery over, what’s on tonight? Playoffs, featuring 1-seeds!

On the basketball side, Game 5 of Cavs-Pistons, tied 2-2 (8:00, ESPN). Winner gets the Knicks (go Cavs, I think)

In the hockey, Game 5 of Wild-Avs, with the Avalanche up 3-1 with a potential closeout at home (8:00, TNT).

All right, discussion questions for the night, in addition to the standard dicking around. Weirdest thing you’ve listened to in a respective genre. Who’s gonna take Sun Ra? And speaking of jazz, that’s a lead-in to next week’s column, but I’ll do that when I’m not in need of getting dressed for my gig right about now!