In some deep current of the sunlit brown. . . . . .

I just noticed that I fumbled and garbled (by way of typos) the last
paragraph of a response I made to a post of Margo Schulter's, which
tangentially pertained to Ives and the possible psychological or
philosophic implications of his music in a Pythagorean tuning... And
even though I long ago realized that (annoying) typos seem to be an
unavoidable byproduct of continually firing off a steady stream of
email (and even noticed that I now tend to read right through those of
others), I'd still like to re-post this bit as it was important to me,
and as such I'd like it to be out there the way I thought it, or
wished to say it... Thanks for your patience (or indulgence as the
case may be).

English writer and nature lover W. H. Hudson wrote "for here the
religion that languishes in crowded cities or steals shame-faced to
hide itself in dim churches, flourishes greatly, filling the soul with
a solemn joy. Face to face with Nature on the vast hills at eventide,
who does not feel himself near to the Unseen?" I think that the Ives
who gave voice to _The Housatonic at Stockbridge_, to _Thoreau_ and
_Emerson_, to _Grantchester_ and the great sobering close of _Autumn_,
intuitively knew that music could also 'languish in crowded cities,'
or 'steal shame-faced to hide itself in dim churches,' and he was
often able to bypass that... to take music 'face to face with Nature
on the vast hills at eventide,' and 'near to the
Unseen.' And while Ives is often cited for his bold and anticipatory
(structural) innovations, it is this (largely ineffable)
accomplishment of Ives that I personally find to be the most
remarkable and inspiring achievement of his music.

Dan