After the woodwinds finally give up, the trumpet poses the question quietly one last time. It is the woodwinds' atonal answers that change in obvious ways, growing increasingly agitated and dissonant. In contrast to this ever-changing but seemingly regular "Silence", the trumpet repeats the same "Question": five notes, of which the last alternates between C and B. After the repetition, the strings' part varies in subtle ways that are difficult for the listener to detect. It uses voice leading, passing tones, and ornamental notes in a manner reminiscent of a hymn or chorale. The strings twice repeat a pianississimo thirteen-bar progression, so slowly it has a static feel. The piece ends with the strings "hum softly in the distance, like the eternal music of the spheres." Ives wrote that the woodwinds' answers represented "Fighting Answerers" who, after a time, "realize a futility and begin to mock 'The Question'" before finally disappearing, leaving "The Question" to be asked once more before "The Silences" are left to their "Undisturbed Solitude". Against this background, the trumpet poses a nontonal phrase - "The Perennial Question of Existence" - seven times, to which the woodwinds "answer" the first six times in an increasingly erratic way. Throughout the piece the strings sustain slow tonal triads that, according to Ives, represent "The Silence of the Druids - who Know, See and Hear Nothing". Ives provided a short text by which to interpret the work, giving it a narrative as in program music. The groups play in independent tempos, and typically require separate conductors. The strings play ppp throughout with no change in tempo." The Foreword states that the group "if possible, should be 'off stage', or away from the trumpet and flutes." It also states: "If more than four strings, a basso may play with the 'cellos (8va basso). A string quartet or string orchestra ( con sordini).Trumpet (or English Horn, or Oboe or Clarinet).The Foreword states "the trumpet should use a mute unless playing in a very large room, or with a larger string orchestra." A solo instrument, preferably a trumpet.The foreword to the score states "If a large string orchestra is playing, the full treble woodwind choir may be used at the discretion of the conductor." The score of The Unanswered Question printed by Southern Music Publishing in 1953 lists the following three instrumental groups: The three groups of instruments perform in independent tempos and are placed separately on the stage-the strings offstage. As with many of Ives' works, it was largely unknown until much later in his life, and was not performed until 1946.Īgainst a background of slow, quiet strings representing "The Silence of the Druids", a solo trumpet poses "The Perennial Question of Existence", to which a woodwind quartet of "Fighting Answerers" tries vainly to provide an answer, growing more frustrated and dissonant until they give up. Originally paired with Central Park in the Dark as Two Contemplations in 1908, The Unanswered Question was revised by Ives in 1930–1935. The Unanswered Question is a musical work by American composer Charles Ives. For the lectures given by Leonard Bernstein, see The Unanswered Question (lecture series). For Eliot Feld's 1998 dance, see The Unanswered Question (ballet). This article is about the Charles Ives composition.
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