Tracing the Development of Extended Vocal Techniques in ...

to express the text in a unique way that extended outside the realm of traditional vocal
techniques. Although by today’s standards, the techniques would not be considered
unusual, the appearance of both was innovative for its time. Through both Schoenberg
and Ives, the scope of America’s musical culture widened to prepare for the entrance of
EVTs. More importantly, however, through the compositional techniques of Ives, the
United States became a haven for musical experimentalism, which would allow later
composers to explore every imaginable sonic possibility. His philosophy of song and
perhaps a foretaste of the future were best summarized in the final lines of the post-face
of 114 Songs.
A song has a few rights, the same as other ordinary citizens. [...] Must it always
be a polite triad, a “breve gaudium,” a ribbon to match the voice? Should it not be
free at times from the dominion of the thorax, the diaphragms, the ear, and other
points of interest? [...] Should it not have a chance to sing to itself, if it can sing? –
to enjoy itself without making a bow, if it can’t make a bow? – to swim around in
any ocean, if it can swim, without having to swallow “hook and bait,” or being
sunk by an operatic greyhound? If it happens to feel like trying to fly where
humans cannot fly, to sing what cannot be sung...who shall stop it? – In short,
must a song always be a song! 27
The Undoing of Nature
The worlds of philosophy, literature and the visual arts have had a constant impact
on the evolution of classical vocal literature, but in the twentieth century those worlds
became intimately intertwined. In rebellions against traditional conventions, Cubism,
Futurism, Dadaism and Surrealism emerged on the pages and canvases of the Western
27 Charles Ives, 114 Songs, (USA: The National Institute of Arts and Letters, 1975), postface.
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