The Unanswered Question
Encyclopedia
The Unanswered Question is a work by American composer Charles Ives
. It was originally the first of "Two Contemplations" composed in 1906, paired with another piece called Central Park in the Dark
. As with many of Ives' works, it was largely unknown until much later in his life, being first published in 1940. Today the two pieces are commonly treated as distinct works, and may be performed either separately or together.
called it "a kind of collage in three distinct layers, roughly coordinated." The three layers involve the scoring for a woodwind quartet, solo trumpet, and offstage string quartet
. Each layer has its own tempo and key. Ives himself described the work as a "cosmic landscape" in which the strings represent "the Silences of the Druids—who Know, See and Hear Nothing." The trumpet then asks "The Perennial Question of Existence" and the woodwinds seek "The Invisible Answer", but abandon it in frustration, so that ultimately the question is answered only by the "Silences".
Ives polished the score in 1908, then from 1930-1935 he worked on a version of The Unanswered Question for orchestra. The premiere performance of this version occurred on May 11, 1946, played by a chamber orchestra of graduate students at the Juilliard School
and conducted by Theodore Bloomfield
. The same concert featured the premieres of Central Park in the Dark and String Quartet No. 2. The original version of the work was not premiered until March 1984, when Dennis Russell Davies
and the American Composers Orchestra
performed it in New York City.
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 non tonal music going on at the same time.
Another view of the piece was written by Jan Swafford
:
Henry
and Sidney Cowell
add that silence in the form of soft slow-moving concordant tones widely spaced in the strings move through the whole piece with uninterrupted placidity. After these tones have establish their mood, loud wind instruments cut through the texture with a dissonant raucous melody that ends with the upturned inflection of the Question.
Charles Ives
Charles Edward Ives was an American modernist composer. He is one of the first American composers of international renown, though Ives' music was largely ignored during his life, and many of his works went unperformed for many years. Over time, Ives came to be regarded as an "American Original"...
. It was originally the first of "Two Contemplations" composed in 1906, paired with another piece called Central Park in the Dark
Central Park in the Dark
Central Park in the Dark is a music 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 Hallowe’en and The Pond in “Three Outdoor Scenes.”...
. As with many of Ives' works, it was largely unknown until much later in his life, being first published in 1940. Today the two pieces are commonly treated as distinct works, and may be performed either separately or together.
Composition
The full title Ives originally gave the piece was "A Contemplation of a Serious Matter" or "The Unanswered Perennial Question". His biographer Jan SwaffordJan Swafford
Jan Swafford is an American composer and author who teaches composition, theory, and musicology at the Boston Conservatory and writing at Tufts University. He earned his B.A. from Harvard College and his M.M.A. and D.M.A. from the Yale School of Music...
called it "a kind of collage in three distinct layers, roughly coordinated." The three layers involve the scoring for a woodwind quartet, solo trumpet, and offstage string quartet
String quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
. Each layer has its own tempo and key. Ives himself described the work as a "cosmic landscape" in which the strings represent "the Silences of the Druids—who Know, See and Hear Nothing." The trumpet then asks "The Perennial Question of Existence" and the woodwinds seek "The Invisible Answer", but abandon it in frustration, so that ultimately the question is answered only by the "Silences".
Ives polished the score in 1908, then from 1930-1935 he worked on a version of The Unanswered Question for orchestra. The premiere performance of this version occurred on May 11, 1946, played by a chamber orchestra of graduate students at the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
and conducted by Theodore Bloomfield
Theodore Bloomfield
Theodore Robert Bloomfield was an American conductor.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 Juilliard School in Manhattan...
. The same concert featured the premieres of Central Park in the Dark and String Quartet No. 2. The original version of the work was not premiered until March 1984, when Dennis Russell Davies
Dennis Russell Davies
Dennis Russell Davies is an American conductor and pianist. He studied piano and conducting at the Juilliard School where he received his doctorate...
and the American Composers Orchestra
American Composers Orchestra
The American Composers Orchestra is an American orchestra based in New York City. It is the only orchestra in the world dedicated solely to the creation, performance, preservation, and promulgation of music by American composers...
performed it in New York City.
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 BernsteinLeonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
added in his 1973 Norton Lectures
Charles Eliot Norton Lectures
The Charles Eliot Norton Professorship of Poetry at Harvard University was established in 1925 as an annual lectureship in "poetry in the broadest sense" and named for the university's former professor of fine arts. Distinguished creative figures and scholars in the arts, including painting,...
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 non tonal music going on at the same time.
Another view of the piece was written by Jan Swafford
Jan Swafford
Jan Swafford is an American composer and author who teaches composition, theory, and musicology at the Boston Conservatory and writing at Tufts University. He earned his B.A. from Harvard College and his M.M.A. and D.M.A. from the Yale School of Music...
:
-
- 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 Cowell
Henry Cowell was an American composer, music theorist, pianist, teacher, publisher, and impresario. His contribution to the world of music was summed up by Virgil Thomson, writing in the early 1950s:...
and Sidney Cowell
Sidney Robertson Cowell
Sidney Robertson Cowell was an American ethnographer and the wife of the composer Henry Cowell. She was born at San Francisco, California....
add that silence in the form of soft slow-moving concordant tones widely spaced in the strings move through the whole piece with uninterrupted placidity. After these tones have establish their mood, loud wind instruments cut through the texture with a dissonant raucous melody that ends with the upturned inflection of the Question.
External links
- Bernstein, Leonard (1967). New York Philharmonic Young People's Concert 3 (December 12, 2005)
- Jaffe, David A (1996). Wanting the Impossible (echos of Ives' Unanswered Question). (December 8, 2005)
- Kennedy, Michael and Joyce Bourne (1996). Biography of Charles Ives (December 12, 2005)
- Mack, Linda (2003). Charles Ives (1874-1954) The Unanswered Question (December 8, 2005)
- Mortensen, Scott (2005). The Unanswered Question Notes (December 8, 2005)
- Swafford, Jan (1998). Charles Edward Ives bio (December 8, 2005)
- The Unanswered Question at YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....