The Unanswered Question
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''The Unanswered Question'' is a musical work by American composer
Charles Ives Charles Edward Ives (; October 20, 1874May 19, 1954) was an American modernist composer, actuary and businessman. Ives was among the earliest renowned American composers to achieve recognition on a global scale. His music was largely ignored d ...
. Originally paired with ''
Central Park in the Dark ''Central Park in the Dark'' is a musical composition by Charles Ives for chamber orchestra. It was composed in 1906 and has been paired with '' The Unanswered Question'' as part of "Two Contemplations" and with ''Hallowe'en'' and ''The Pond'' i ...
'' as ''Two Contemplations'' in 1908, ''The Unanswered Question'' was revised by Ives in 1930–1935. As with many of Ives' works, it was largely unknown until much later in his life, and was not performed until 1946. Against a background of slow, quiet strings representing "The Silence of the
Druid A druid was a member of the high-ranking priestly class in ancient Celtic cultures. The druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no wr ...
s", 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. The three groups of instruments perform in independent tempos and are placed separately on the stage—the strings offstage.


Composition

The score of ''The Unanswered Question'' printed by Southern Music Publishing in 1953 lists the following three instrumental groups: * A woodwind quartet. 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..." ** Flute I ** Flute II ** Flute III (or Oboe) ** Flute IV (or Clarinet) * A solo instrument, preferably a trumpet. The Foreword states "the trumpet should use a mute unless playing in a very large room, or with a larger string orchestra." ** Trumpet (or English Horn, or Oboe or Clarinet) * A string quartet or string orchestra (''con sordini''). 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). The strings play throughout with no change in tempo." ** Violin I ** Violin II ** Viola ** Violoncello (8va Contrabass) The groups play in independent
tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...
s, and typically require separate conductors. Ives provided a short text by which to interpret the work, giving it a narrative as in
program music Program music or programmatic music is a type of instrumental art music that attempts to musically render an extramusical narrative. The narrative itself might be offered to the audience through the piece's title, or in the form of program not ...
. Throughout the piece the strings sustain slow tonal triads that, according to Ives, represent "The Silence of the
Druid A druid was a member of the high-ranking priestly class in ancient Celtic cultures. The druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no wr ...
s — who Know, See and Hear Nothing". 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. Ives wrote that the woodwinds' answers represented "Fighting Answerers" who, after a time, "realize 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". The piece ends with the strings "hum
ing Ing, ING or ing may refer to: Art and media * '' ...ing'', a 2003 Korean film * i.n.g, a Taiwanese girl group * The Ing, a race of dark creatures in the 2004 video game '' Metroid Prime 2: Echoes'' * "Ing", the first song on The Roches' 199 ...
softly in the distance, like the eternal music of the spheres." The strings twice repeat a pianississimo thirteen-bar progression, so slowly it has a static feel. It uses
voice leading Voice leading (or part writing) is the linear progression of individual melodic lines ( voices or parts) and their interaction with one another to create harmonies, typically in accordance with the principles of common-practice harmony and cou ...
, passing tones, and ornamental notes in a manner reminiscent of a
hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' d ...
or
chorale A chorale is the name of several related musical forms originating in the music genre of the Lutheran chorale: * Hymn tune of a Lutheran hymn (e.g. the melody of " Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme"), or a tune in a similar format (e.g. one o ...
. After the repetition, the strings' part varies in subtle ways that are difficult for the listener to detect. 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. It is the woodwinds' atonal answers that change in obvious ways, growing increasingly agitated and dissonant. After the woodwinds finally give up, the trumpet poses the question quietly one last time.


History

Ives composed ''The Unanswered Question'', subtitled "(a Cosmic Landscape)" in Ives's work papers, in 1908 (though it is often erroneously dated 1906), and revised it in 1930–1935, at which time he included a 13-bar introduction, made the woodwind parts more dissonant, and added further dynamic and articulation indications. He also made a small but significant change to the "question motif", which had originally ended on the note that began it, but now remained unresolved. During 1930–1935 he also worked on a version of ''The Unanswered Question'' for chamber orchestra. The premiere performance of this version occurred on May 11, 1946 at McMillin Theatre,
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, played by a chamber orchestra of graduate students from the
Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...
and conducted by Edgar Schenkman (on-stage), with the strings led by
Theodore Bloomfield Theodore Robert Bloomfield (June 14, 1923 – April 1, 1998) was an American conductor. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, he studied music at Oberlin College in Ohio and conducting with Edgar Schenkman for two years on a fellowship at the Juilli ...
(off-stage). The same concert featured the premieres of ''
Central Park in the Dark ''Central Park in the Dark'' is a musical composition by Charles Ives for chamber orchestra. It was composed in 1906 and has been paired with '' The Unanswered Question'' as part of "Two Contemplations" and with ''Hallowe'en'' and ''The Pond'' i ...
'' and '' String Quartet No. 2''. The original version of the work was not premiered until March 17, 1984, when
Dennis Russell Davies Dennis Russell Davies (born April 16, 1944, in Toledo, Ohio) is an American conductor and pianist. He is chief conductor of the Brno Philharmonic and of the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra. Biography Davies studied piano and conducting at ...
and the
American Composers Orchestra The American Composers Orchestra (ACO) is an American orchestra administratively based in New York City, specialising in contemporary American music. The ACO gives concerts at various concert venues in New York City, including: * Zankel Hall at ...
performed it at
Symphony Space Symphony Space, founded by Isaiah Sheffer and Allan Miller, is a multi-disciplinary performing arts organization at 2537 Broadway on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Performances take place in the 760-seat Peter Jay Sharp Theat ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
as part of the "Wall-to-Wall Ives" series. In 1985, Paul Echols and Noel Zahler produced an edition of ''The Unanswered Question'' that included both the original version and the revised 1930–1935 edition. Echols and Zahler were fortunate in that sufficiently complete sources were available to work from for both scores.


Notational and performative considerations

In his essay "The Rhythmic Basis of American Music,"
Elliott Carter Elliott Cook Carter Jr. (December 11, 1908 – November 5, 2012) was an American modernist composer who was one of the most respected composers of the second half of the 20th century. He combined elements of European modernism and American " ...
noted that "the combination of different rhythmic planes involved Ives in complex problems of notation." In ''The Unanswered Question'', the strings and trumpet play at a tempo marked "Largo molto sempre". But meanwhile the winds gradually accelerate, with tempo markings for the six "Answers" of ''Adagio'', ''Andante'', ''Allegretto'', ''Allegro'', ''Allegro molto'', and ''Allegro, accel to Presto'', and their bar lines going out of sync with those of the other instruments. In the foreword to the score, Ives wrote that the wind's music "need not be played in the exact time position indicated. It is played in somewhat of an impromptu way..." He also noted: "'The Answers' may be played somewhat sooner after each 'Question' than indicated in the score, but 'The Question' should be played no sooner for that reason." Regarding the ending of the piece, Ives wrote: "The flutes will end their part approximately near the position indicated in the string score; but in any case, 'The Last Question' should not be played by the trumpet until 'The Silences' of the strings in the distance have been heard for a measure or two. The strings will continue their last chord for two measures or so after the trumpet stops. If the strings shall have reached their last chord before the trumpet plays 'The Last Question', they will hold it through and continue after, as suggested above." In terms of dynamics, the strings play throughout, fading to at the end. The trumpet plays throughout, except for the last "Question", which is . The winds, however, gradually increase in loudness: dynamic markings for the six "Answers" are , , , < , < , and < < . Ives noted: "During some of the louder passages of the flutes, the strings may not be heard, and it is not important that they should be."


Views

Linda Mack called ''The Unanswered Question'' "a study in contrasts. Strings intone slow diatonic, triadic chords; a solo trumpet asks the question seven times; the flutes try to answer the question, each time getting more and more agitated and atonal."
Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...
added in his 1973 Norton Lectures, which borrowed its title from the Ives work, that the woodwinds are said to represent our human answers growing increasingly impatient and desperate, until they lose their meaning entirely. Meanwhile, right from the very beginning, the strings have been playing their own separate music, infinitely soft and slow and sustained, never changing, never growing louder or faster, never being affected in any way by that strange question-and-answer dialogue of the trumpet and the woodwinds. Bernstein also talks about how the strings are playing tonal triads against the trumpet's non tonal phrase. In the end, when the trumpet asks the question for the last time, the strings "are quietly prolonging their pure G major triad into eternity". This piece graphically represents the 20th century dichotomy of both tonal and atonal music occurring at the same time. Another view of the piece was written by Austin Frey:
The 'cosmic landscape' of ''The Unanswered Question'', a trumpet repeatedly poses 'the eternal question of existence' against a haunting background of strings, finally to be answered by an eloquent silence. By that work of 1906, Ives was over half a century ahead of his time, writing in collage-like planes of contrasting styles. In 1951, the Polymusic Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Will Lorin, first recorded the piece.
Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...
and Sidney Cowell wrote: "Silence is represented by soft slow-moving concordant tones widely spaced in the strings; they move through the whole piece with uninterrupted placidity. After they have gone on long enough to establish their mood, loud wind instruments cut through the texture with a dissonant raucous melody that ends with the upturned inflection of the Question." Ives scholar Wayne Shirley believed that ''The Unanswered Question'' shared "imagery, structure, and worldview" with "The Sphinx" (1847) by American Transcendentalist poet
Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, minister, abolitionism, abolitionist, and poet who led the Transcendentalism, Transcendentalist movement of th ...
, and that the title derived from a line from the poem: "Thou art the unanswered question". While at Yale, Ives wrote his senior essay on Emerson, and shortly after composing ''The Unanswered Question'', he composed his ''Emerson Overture'', parts of which were later incorporated into the ''
Concord Sonata The Piano Sonata No. 2, ''Concord, Mass., 1840–60'' (commonly known as the ''Concord Sonata'') is a piano sonata by Charles Ives. It is one of the composer's best-known and most highly regarded pieces. A typical performance of the piece lasts ar ...
''. Matthew McDonald noted that Ives "recalled how ''The Unanswered Question'' was one of several pieces that was 'played — or better tried out — usually ending in a fight or hiss...'" shortly after its composition. He concludes that "It is possible... to associate the Answerers with Ives's public, initially confused by, and ultimately dismissing and mocking, his music... We might... conceive of ''The Unanswered Question'', then, as thickly veiled autobiography, in which Ives elevated the trope of the misunderstood artist to the loftiest heights imaginable, a struggle of cosmic proportions."


Reception and legacy

Ives' biographer
Jan Swafford Jan Swafford (born September 10, 1946) is an American author and composer. He earned his Bachelor of Arts ''magna cum laude'' from Harvard College and his M.M.A. and D.M.A. from the Yale School of Music. His teachers included Earl Kim at Harvard, ...
called the piece "a kind of collage in three distinct layers, roughly coordinated".
Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, critic, writer, teacher, pianist, and conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as the "Dean of American Compos ...
, who often conducted the composition, considered it to be "among the finest works ever created by an American artist". Ives use of separate groups of instruments placed apart on the stage and playing in independent tempos influenced the work of American composer
Henry Brant Henry Dreyfuss Brant (September 15, 1913 – April 26, 2008) was a Canadian-born American composer. An expert orchestrator with a flair for experimentation, many of Brant's works featured spatialization techniques. Biography Brant was born ...
. The music was used in the 1972 short film directed by Donald Fox based on the tale "
Young Goodman Brown "Young Goodman Brown" is a short story published in 1835 by American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne. The story takes place in 17th-century Puritan New England, a common setting for Hawthorne's works, and addresses the Calvinist/Puritan belief that a ...
" by author
Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne (né Hathorne; July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associat ...
. It was also used in the 1998 film ''
Run Lola Run ''Run Lola Run'' (, ) is a 1998 German experimental thriller film written and directed by Tom Tykwer. The story follows a woman named Lola ( Franka Potente) who needs to obtain 100,000 Deutsche Mark in twenty minutes to save the life of her boy ...
''. The music was used in '' The Thin Red Line'' (1998), performed by Orchestra of St. Luke's and conducted by
John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...
. The part for strings was also used at the end of
Terence Davies Terence Davies (10 November 1945 – 7 October 2023) was a British screenwriter, film director, and novelist. He is best known as the writer and director of autobiographical films, including '' Distant Voices, Still Lives'' (1988), '' The Long ...
' biopic of
Emily Dickinson Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry. Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massac ...
, ''
A Quiet Passion ''A Quiet Passion'' is a 2016 British biographical film written and directed by Terence Davies about the life of American poet Emily Dickinson. The film stars Cynthia Nixon as the reclusive poet. It co-stars Emma Bell as young Dickinson, Jenni ...
'' (2016). It is performed by the
Brussels Philharmonic The Brussels Philharmonic is a Belgian orchestra located in Brussels. Formerly known as the Groot Symfonie-Orkest, BRT Philharmonic Orchestra, and later as the Flemish Radio Orchestra, the orchestra has been linked to the Flemish public broadc ...
. Also used in Oliver Hermanus' film Moffie (2020). The piece was performed on electronic instruments by Japanese synthesist
Isao Tomita , often known simply as Tomita, was a Japanese composer, regarded as one of the pioneers of electronic music and space music, and as one of the most famous producers of analog synthesizer arrangements. In addition to creating note-by-note realiza ...
on his 1978 album "Kosmos". The introduction was reused by
Owen Pallett Michael James Owen Pallett-Plowright (born September 7, 1979), known professionally as Owen Pallett, is a Canadian composer, violinist, keyboardist, and vocalist. Under their former pseudonym Final Fantasy, Pallett won the 2006 Polaris Music P ...
for an alternative version of the song "The CN Tower Belongs to the Dead" as a B-side of the "Many Lives → 49 MP" single; it is humorously called the "Many Ives version" as a clear reference to Charles Ives. This version is also played live with orchestras. A version of the composition was also performed on the 2013 Fink album, Fink Meets the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.


Notebook


References


Works cited

* * * * * * * * * * * * *


External links

*Bernstein, Leonard (1967)
New York Philharmonic Young People's Concert 3
(December 12, 2005) *Jaffe, David A (1996)

(December 8, 2005) *Kennedy, Michael and Joyce Bourne (1996)

(December 12, 2005) *Mack, Linda (2003)

(December 8, 2005) *Mortensen, Scott (2005)

(December 8, 2005) *Swafford, Jan (1998)

(December 8, 2005)
''The Unanswered Question''
at
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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Unanswered Question 1908 compositions Compositions by Charles Ives Compositions for trumpet Spatial music Existentialist works