An Election, for chorus & orchestra, S. 180 (K. 5B12)

• Date: 1920 -1924
• Composer: Charles Ives
• Period: Modern (1910-1949)

Review

In 1896 the young Charles Ives wrote one of the official Republican Party campaign songs for the Presidential campaign of William McKinley ("William Will," Kz38). Twenty-five years later, Ives was a strong supporter of Woodrow Wilson; he was particularly impressed by the president's proposal for a League of Nations intended to prevent war. Ives was greatly embittered by the Senate's rejection of the treaty, as well as by the landslide Republican victory in 1920--an election touted as a national referendum on Wilson's policies and the League.

This song, one of Ives' last works, is full of the vituperation that characterizes much of the composer's prose. (A glance at Ives' collected Memos confirms the composer's penchant for merciless verbal abuse when the right nerves were touched.) The homespun poetry of "An Election," written by Ives himself, assumes the voice of a crusty and wise old New Englander complaining about the soft-headed, selfish mood among the electorate. Ives first wrote the work for unison chorus and orchestra, later adapting it for solo voice and piano. In the latter version, the song found its way (as No. 22) into one of the most remarkable documents of Ives' compositional career, the collection 114 Songs. ~ Joseph Stevenson, Rovi

Albums with Complete Performances of the Work

Title	Date
Ives: Symphony No3; General William Booth Enters into Heaven kz98
Ives: Symphony No4; They Are There! ky38

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