Program Note: Finding Religion is inspired by an art song composed by Charles Ives titled Religion and by my life-long journey to make sense of religion as a concept.

The Ives song sets text the following text from a poem by James T. Bixby:

There is no unbelief.

And day by day and night by night, unconsciously.

The heart lives by faith the lips deny;

God knows the why.

I am Jewish, more culturally than religiously, and growing up in a non-religious household I have grappled with the concept of religion my entire life: how it fits into my life if at all and what my beliefs would even be, Jewish or otherwise. As I have moved through my adult life, it has occurred to me that in some ways, as humans, we are all religious in the sense that religion is a set of core values and beliefs, some of which may defy the ability to be scientifically proven, but inform our belief system and worldview nonetheless. For some, this indelible need is met through organized religion, but for others, it is met through a personally forged set of ideas and values. My own personal religion has come into focus, a blend of agnosticism and nascent Jewish beliefs passed down knowingly or unknowingly through non-religious generations of my family. This the Ives setting of this Bixby poem struck me as it perfectly illustrates - in a humorous, ironic, and remarkably self-aware way - the zealous insistence that we are all religious even if we deny it. It exudes levity while inviting the reader to sincerely contemplate its message. Additionally, I grew up in Danbury, CT, the same hometown as Charles Ives and am the artistic director of the Charles Ives Music Festival. Ives was famous for quoting folk songs and music that was important to him, often in ironic ways, and Finding Religion features multiple quotations and variations of the Ives song. This extra layer of irony feels suited to a work inspired by this poem and Ives setting of it. The piece begins with a hazy version of in the initial chorale heard in the Ives song, which is the beginning of a journey to eventually finding a direct quotation later in the piece, in which we “find religion.” I express my sincerest gratitude to my friend and colleague Julian Schwarz for his remarkable musicianship, confidence in me as a composer, and for his warm and wonderful friendship that have led to years of thoughtful conversation and baseball games – all of which are as a critical an inspiration to this work as the Ives poem itself.

Commisioned By: the Eastern Music Festival

Premiere: Summer 2023 with violinist Jeffrey Multer, cellist Julian Schwarz, and the EMF Orchestra led by Gerard Schwarz