Putnam's Camp

Ives's "Putnam's Camp" is a piece that flows like a dreamy poem, depicting a boy enjoying a Fourth of July picnic at a former Revolutionary War campground. It begins with a loud blast of a horn and continues with a vibrant and eccentric march theme. Bit and pieces of Sousa marches and patriotic tunes are incorporated to make up a splendid arrangement of different tones and melodies. Musical quotes intrude on the dissonant confusion and …

…he hears sounds of celebration, and meets his friends at the picnic. With a casual reference to "The Star Spangled Banner," the piece ends on a piercing note, just like it begins. The texture of this piece is so thick that repeated parts become the missing links for earlier tunes and fragments. The polytonality and distorted quotations of familiar tunes provide a marvelous confusion which amounts to Ives leaving us devoid of any definite resolution.