The Unanswered Question

Description

This is one of Ives's most famous and popular pieces, combining innovation with a philosophical program. The strings, representing the "Silences of the Druids —who Know, See, and Hear Nothing," play a soft, serene passage in G major. Above this, a solo trumpet intones seven times "The Perennial Question of Existence," a five-note melody that suggests no key. The winds attempt to answer with dissonant, atonal figures that become faster, louder, and more frenetic each time. After a "secret conference" (a cluster of notes in a low register), the winds mock the question, which is heard one last time.