Stylistic heterogeneity shatters our traditional musical expectations and simultaneously creates challenging and unprecedented expressive experiences. Using as examples Ives's incredibly diverse song literature and selected orchestral works, Starr offers a fascinating overview of the composer's complex approaches to musical style. In such well-known songs as "Tom Sails Away," "General William Booth Enters Into Heaven," and "Majority," as well as such orchestral works as "Decoration Day," Ives's imaginative use of musical materials forms distinct layers that either create new composite song styles or emphasize multiplicity. Some songs, such as "Ann Street," describe physical journeys; others, such as "The Things Our Fathers Loved," evoke "mental journeys" or the process of memory. Ives's employment of musical style in these works, while appearing to disrupt traditionally conceived continuity and unity, actually creates continuity and unity on other levels of perception.
來源: Google Book