The Unanswered Question

The Unanswered Question     Charles Ives, who was an American composer wrote a gorgeous piece called "The Unanswered Question", where there is a mixture of serenity, questioning and uneasiness.  I decided to listen to this work again yesterday, and it is one of those works of art that takes my mind off of things and keeps me focused on the actual piece.  I started playing this piece and the cat sat next to me on the bed.  I don't know if she has an affinity for music.  However, I do know that she dislikes certain things.  The piece starts out with a serene chorale in the strings which represents some type of peacefulness.  Ives said it represents the Druids, and I can hear the pious nature in it.  When I think about the string chorale, i picture outer space with the stars and planets in the background.  When the solo trumpet enters, the question is being asked.  The question of why we are all here is what I get from it.  There are a lot of questions in human nature which are unanswered.  Such as fear of the unknown.  No one knows what is really going to happen in the future.  That uncertainty can be heard in the wind instruments, but that fear goes away when the strings come back in with the chorale.  This whole piece is like trying to meditate with the mind being an ease, then thinking about something intently, then back to piece again.  Interestingly, the most clear tonal aspect of this piece is in the strings.  The solo trumpet asking the question, and the winds with their uncertainty are more ambiguous tonally.  Charles Ives was a versatile composer in that he could be philosophical, spiritual, humorous, sensitive and patriotic.  This piece, "The Unanswered Question" is spiritual and philosophical.