A Charles Ives Holiday (1970)

In 1966, as a member of the Gregg Smith Singers, Philip Carey sang on the Grammy-winning album Charles Ives: Music for Chorus, which ignited a lifelong love of the then-obscure American composer’s iconoclastic music. In 1969, shortly after returning from a three-year stint with the U.S. Navy, he began plans for a film about Ives, which later turned into organizing a “Charles Ives Holiday” festival (named after Ives’ Holidays Symphony) at California State College, Long Beach, where he was (occasionally) enrolled as a graduate student in the design program.

The festival was scheduled for May 8–10, 1970, and was to feature three days of concerts, lectures, and films, and an exhibit, and would have been (to my knowledge) the first of its kind to celebrate Ives. However, on May 7, one day before the festival’s opening reception, Governor Ronald Reagan ordered the immediate closure of all California State University campuses in response to ongoing student protests against the war in Vietnam, and the event was canceled.

As part of his preparations, Philip mailed letters to 102 notable people “in all areas of cultural involvement” asking for their thoughts on Ives, with plans to display their responses in the festival exhibit. Those contacted ranged from musicians—including those with connections to Ives’ music like Leonard Bernstein and Pierre Boulez, plus those much further afield like Joan Baez and Burt Bacharach—to cultural figures like Andy Warhol and Norman Rockwell, and even politicians like Governors George Wallace, Lester Maddox, and Reagan (who ironically sent well-wishes for the festival that he eventually caused to be canceled).

Philip received over 30 responses, which are collected below. They range from highly detailed thoughts on Ives’ music (from Lou Harrison, Ingolf Dahl, George Rochberg, and Peter Yates), to admissions of ignorance, to apologies for delay. In keeping with Philip’s sense of humor, he especially appreciated the cantankerous (“no particular originality was involved” –Meredith Wilson) and/or confused replies (“sure appreciate inquiry of feelings about the music of Charles Ives Holiday” –Wallace).