General William Booth Enters Into Heaven, song for voice & piano, S. 255 (K. 6B50) by Charles Ives. Performed by William Sharp, baritone; and Steven Blier, piano. From The Complete Songs of Charles Ives, Vol. 3. Albany Records, 1995.

Today would be Ives’ 163rd birthday. For me, this song is still as fresh as when he wrote it ninety-six years ago(!).

So why is it here on this blog? Well, many scholars on the subject of surrealism in music, including yours truly, believe that Ives was the preeminent musical surrealist. There is a clear effort to combine numerous musical style, tunes, and effects in order to portray the underlying message.

The poem, written by Vachel Lindsay in 1912 is an ode to William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army. Jeremy Grimshaw writes:

In it, Lindsay imagines Booth marching into the hereafter at the head of a large army consisting of lepers, drunks, and other downtrodden folks, of which “each slum had sent its half-a-score the round world over.” These “vermin-eaten saints with mouldy breath” march as a procession in drills before the pearly gates, and, as they enter in, Jesus appears, his outstretched hand healing them of their ills.

As Grimshaw also points out Ives’ treatment of the text is more of a caricature than a literal translation of the narrative indicating the larger-than-life-ness of General Booth and his subsequent reputation.

Ives hated highbrow pretensions and exulted in the music of the streets. The Paris Surrealists held the same feelings for art revolting at the aristocracy infecting the art museums of France.

One can also hear numerous juxtapositions of familiar tunes. Just like Max Ernst combined familiar cut-outs of magazines, postcards, etc. to create a unified whole – a collage, Ives created a musical collage from patriotic songs, church hymns, and popular music of the streets.

If you are interested in Surrealism in Music a good place to start reading is Anne LeBaron’s article Reflections of Surrealism in Postmodern Music. You can find it on Google Books.