Uploaded May 2014 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
This is Stokowski's great recording of the Robert Browning Overture. Begun in 1914, Ives considered the piece something of a transitional work, leaving his earlier academic mode of writing behind.
In 1908, the composer's wife Harmony gave him a copy of Robert Browning's Paracelsus for his birthday. The overture reflects more the subject of the poem than the poet himself. Paracelsus was a Swiss German physician and alchemist from the Renaissance period.
This particular work by Ives seems to be missing one of his hallmarks - a mosaic of quotations from American folk music and hymns.
The images that accompany this video will be familiar to anyone who has watched the TV show Fringe. Ives had a forward-thinking imagination that was revealed in his music no matter how academically unacceptable. I like to imagine that he was dreaming up all sorts of things while reading Paracelsus and later penning this magnificent tone poem.
***Source: laphil.com/philpedia/music/robert-browning-overture-charles-ives
Performed by the American Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Leopold Stokowski
This is Stokowski's great recording of the Robert Browning Overture. Begun in 1914, Ives considered the piece something of a transitional work, leaving his earlier academic mode of writing behind.
In 1908, the composer's wife Harmony gave him a copy of Robert Browning's Paracelsus for his birthday. The overture reflects more the subject of the poem than the poet himself. Paracelsus was a Swiss German physician and alchemist from the Renaissance period.
This particular work by Ives seems to be missing one of his hallmarks - a mosaic of quotations from American folk music and hymns.
The images that accompany this video will be familiar to anyone who has watched the TV show Fringe. Ives had a forward-thinking imagination that was revealed in his music no matter how academically unacceptable. I like to imagine that he was dreaming up all sorts of things while reading Paracelsus and later penning this magnificent tone poem.
***Source: laphil.com/philpedia/music/robert-browning-overture-charles-ives
Performed by the American Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Leopold Stokowski
