Jonathan Elkus' Old Home Days: Suite for Band was arranged in 1971. Elkus' intent was both to highlight some of Charles Ives' little-known early works of the 1880s and 1890s and to add a bit more of Ives' music to the general band literature, as so much of what he originally produced in this medium has gone missing or is written for instruments no longer in use. Old Home Days has gained a good deal of traction in the band market and along with a considerable amount of performances; it focuses on Ives' penchant for nostalgia and is one Ives piece that has a wide potential for audience appeal, yet does not compromise his intentions.

The suite opens with Ives' gentle, Bowery-styled "Waltz," a tongue-in-cheek take off on early Tin Pan Alley pop music dating from 1895 that quotes the gay nineties English music hall song "Little Annie Rooney"; Ives touched it up in 1921. "The Opera House/Old Home Day" dovetails the first half of Ives' song "Memories" (1897) with the retrospective tune "Old Home Day," composed in 1914. The hymn-like, churchy "The Collection" represents the latest music in the suite; it was not composed until 1920; however, "Slow March"—Ives' memoriam to a departed pet with its quotation from Handel's "Saul"—is Ives' earliest song, dating from 1888. Finally, Elkus' suite concludes with "London Bridge is Fallen Down!," a piece from about 1891 that may have been for organ. Sketched out in three short versions and not containing any specifics about instrumentation, Ives' original burlesque would be difficult to effectively realize in performance. Elkus' version helps make this early experimental composition accessible, and it is a childlike romp through a number of variations on the tune "London Bridge" in distantly related keys. It has a playful aspect that kids can relate to, and usually brings down the house at band concerts worldwide when performed.

© All Music Guide

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Jonathan Elkus' Old Home Days: Suite for Band was arranged in 1971. Elkus' intent was both to highlight some of Charles Ives' little-known early works of the 1880s and 1890s and to add a bit more of Ives' music to the general band literature, as so much of what he originally produced in this medium has gone missing or is written for instruments no longer in use. Old Home Days has gained a good deal of traction in the band market and along with a considerable amount of performances; it focuses on Ives' penchant for nostalgia and is one Ives piece that has a wide potential for audience appeal, yet does not compromise his intentions.

The suite opens with Ives' gentle, Bowery-styled "Waltz," a tongue-in-cheek take off on early Tin Pan Alley pop music dating from 1895 that quotes the gay nineties English music hall song "Little Annie Rooney"; Ives touched it up in 1921. "The Opera House/Old Home Day" dovetails the first half of Ives' song "Memories" (1897) with the retrospective tune "Old Home Day," composed in 1914. The hymn-like, churchy "The Collection" represents the latest music in the suite; it was not composed until 1920; however, "Slow March"—Ives' memoriam to a departed pet with its quotation from Handel's "Saul"—is Ives' earliest song, dating from 1888. Finally, Elkus' suite concludes with "London Bridge is Fallen Down!," a piece from about 1891 that may have been for organ. Sketched out in three short versions and not containing any specifics about instrumentation, Ives' original burlesque would be difficult to effectively realize in performance. Elkus' version helps make this early experimental composition accessible, and it is a childlike romp through a number of variations on the tune "London Bridge" in distantly related keys. It has a playful aspect that kids can relate to, and usually brings down the house at band concerts worldwide when performed.

© Uncle Dave Lewis , All Music Guide

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