@BumpersMomClaire I would think so. Ned Rorem once wrote me that the meaning of life was to seek life's meaning. Rather dualistic as well - yes? Perhaps the greater answer to the question of life is that is no answer. A constant unfolding whereby the universe and all its wonders, none the least of which is Music, creates itself and we are as much the observer as the thing observed.
@stratocaster1986able Because he did not compose music to be a great composer, he simply did it out of the love of music. He wrote most of his stuff while working a full time job as an insurance person. Truly an unsung hero of American music.
I guess the answer to the Unanswered Question lies in the mind of the unanswered? Or maybe only the people who have reached a stage in their lives where they can relate to this song and answer it? Either way, a beautiful masterpiece.
Elmer Bernstein para-phrased this piece for "The Ten Commandments";the scene w/Charlton Heston & the burning bush..., listening to this great work always reminds me of it too.
Charles Ives is easily America's greatest composer--but you'd never know it looking at American symphony programs. Even minor European composers like Lalo and von Suppe get more program time than our giant of a composer. Here is the Unanswered Question: Why aren't AMERICAN symphonies programing this musical genius more often?? His neglect in the 20's and 30's is somewhat understandable (if not forgiven)--but now?? C'mon people!!
@windstorm1000 I feel like any serious work he did is overshadowed by his marching band arrangements, which i don't believe were ever meant to be serious. Novelty is a terrible thing.
HEY! What happened to the highest rated, helpful comments that explained the song? Oh, I see they have been replaced by comments from attention seeking wise cracks... what is this world coming to people!? Why don't we work together to get them back on top, eh?
Finally a response to Leibnitz's "?"..."why is there something rather than nothing at all"...whoops, a paraphrase but you get the idea....:) The "?" remains unanswered in this haunting piece by Ives. Perhaps Kant was right and we will never come close to finding the answer. Perhaps Lennon was right for his prescription for mankind.....just "Imagine"
I saw this piece performed at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia...the musicians were in the boxes to the right and left of the procenium...they "talked" to each other..it was the most spatial moment I ever witnessed in music to this day. Charles Ives was a genius.
it signifies the complete collapse of western ethics and moral order after the atrocity of the enlightenment and the rise of Godless materialism, the utter chaos resulting from the desecration of humanity. God's harmonious presence is in the background but the confused state of humanity's fall cannot articulate its condition or harmonize with the principles of creation and so degenerates into helpless confusion and surrenders to demented evil which betrays, decieves and only seeks to destroy.
I find this piece haunting and exilharating, both relaxxing and disturbing, re-assuring and unsettling; a strange mix of classical and contempary styles. incredibly brief yet oddly satisfying. How can we know the answer when we don't know the question?
you can get a version of this without the trumpet & woodwinds if you take a loaded pistol, put the barrel between your eyes, and pull the trigger. trust me, it works guys
Saying things like this wont help, because one its over the web, and two you would never say it out in the real world to someone's face. You're not cool. :[
I love the piece for the most part. The strings are spectacular. But is there anyway i can get a recording of just the strings without the flute or horn. The flute & horn almost ruin it for me, it's like it doesn't fit in. I understand that is the purpose but does anyone know of a recording with just the violin and string? Please help
@buckdeer85 If you're looking for beautiful, completely-tonal music for strings, check out Vaughan Williams' "Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis" or "The Lark Ascending." You're not going to find any recording of this piece without the trumpet or woodwinds; they're by far the most important part of the piece - without them, you just have a slow progression of chords that go nowhere for a while and then just end.
@buckdeer85 Clearly this means you prefer to be as the druids, silent and knowing nothing, rather than to ask the difficult questions! :-P
But I know what you mean. I first encountered this piece as a performer in a student orchestra, and I used to enjoy strings-only practices for the same reason: the string portion is so lulling and soothing and not so atonal. I doubt there is a strings-only recording of this piece, but there are other pieces with this sound you might prefer instead.
I remember that when I was in college at Notre Dame I'd listen to this at the audio library late in the afternoon and it would take me to a place that was vast in scale and just a bit scary. It didn't help that I was a freshman 1300 miles from home, studying Existentialism. I suppose I was either brave or really stupid.
Am i correct in believing that the strings and for example brass, are in different keys or is it merely a matter of chromatic alterations? (My ear is really, really bad. I can just about do intervals)
This piece is both beautiful and haunting. Everytime I listen to it, it sends shivers up my spine and my scalp prickles. Charles Ives was truly a genius.
When I listen to this piece it is imossible to me not to draw parallels with Shostakovich´s symphony 11.
Maybe I am imagining everything, probably, but it is challenging to think that they shared similar inner experience and that it is shown in the outcome.
i have always thought the same thing. btw, playing the first movement of symphony 11 and this at the same time, constantly adjusting the slider on each, is a great deal of fun
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
it signifies the complete collapse of western ethics and moral order after the atrocity of ww1 and ww2. the utter chaos resulting from the desecration of humanity. God's harmonious presence is in the background but the confused state of humanity's fall cannot articulate its condition or harmonize with the principles of creation and so degenerates into helpless confusion and surrenders to evil which betrays and only seeks to destroy.
@iorixs no it does not. Only if you really have no idea who Charles Ives is and if you never heard of the term "world war" your comment would sound smart. But for all others it's just idiotic
@paxpacis2 Existentialist philosophers often stress the importance of Angst as signifying the absolute lack of any objective ground for action, a move that is often reduced to a moral or an existential nihilism. A pervasive theme in the works of existentialist philosophy, however, is to persist through encounters with the absurd
@paxpacis2 An existential crisis is a stage of development at which an individual questions the very foundations of their life: whether their life has any meaning, purpose or value.[1] This issue of the meaning and purpose of existence is the topic of the philosophical school of existentialism.
@paxpacis2 anomie arises more generally from a mismatch between personal or group standards and wider social standards, or from the lack of a social ethic, which produces moral deregulation and an absence of legitimate aspirations.
@iorixs There are plenty of theories about what exactly this piece means.
I think the reason people got irritated with your comment was primarily that you sounded like you were stating facts. A piece that has no text telling you what it represents is not intended to be heard as having such explicit, complex meaning. Your ideas are interesting, but you sounded like you were saying that this is what Ives was thinking when he composed the piece. That might be going a bit too far, to be fair.
@BenMcCormack91 Existentialism is a term applied to the work of a number of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences,[1][2] generally held that the focus of philosophical thought should be to deal with the conditions of existence of the individual person and their emotions, actions, responsibilities, and thoughts.
@BenMcCormack91 An existential crisis is a stage of development at which an individual questions the very foundations of his or her life: whether their life has any meaning, purpose or value.[1] This issue of the meaning and purpose of existence is the topic of the philosophical school of existentialism.
@iorixs Yes; I am completely aware of what existentialism is, and its significance in twentieth-century culture. My point was merely that your interpretation is too specific to be [provably] the logic Ives himself used to write the piece. There are things we can say are undeniably true about the piece, but to provide such an explicit textual meaning as you did is to step beyond the bounds of provable analysis, and into the realm of personal interpretation. That's all I am saying.
Put simply, I believe Ives himself claimed this to be the question: What is the future of music? Considering that there is a crises in musical grammar and syntax: the recent problem of tonality vs atonality etc.. Notice the calm strings vs. unstable brass and winds that ask the question. They eventually are made fun of because the question is indeed (so far) unanswerable. The crises can then be extended to other arts and possibly philosophy: ethics and morality.
Ives describes it as "the perenial question of existence." Take a look in the score, there's a large explanation in the introduction. I'm pretty sure Ives was trying to express deeper things than issues in musical language, no to say that he wasn't very concerned about the things you mention. I think he was using this crisis in music to represent the crisis of humanity.
The whole point of this piece is that it's question with no answers and the inharmonic moments are people trying to answer it. The strings are people asking for the meaning of life and the brass and winds are giving what they think is the answer.
The unanswered question is "Who orchestrated the strings, brass and woodwind in completely different keys?!?!?". The answer is no-one knows. Nobody fessed up :P
The NY Philharmonic, with Bernstein, performed the 2nd Symphony (which won the Pulitzer) in the early 50's. Ives supposedly heard the performance on the radio and either loved it or hated it, as Lenny had the orchestra hold the last chord longer than Ives intended (so the story goes) just to give the audience more time to hear that wonderful chord.
Stokowski premiered the 4th (with two assistant conductors) in 1965. There's a 32 second clip on Youtube.
Hello everybody! My name is sheat hiden and I play all of instruments known to the universe. I just want to say that Ives was a great inspiration in my life. Probably the great creature to have ever lived,right in front of Jean-Luc Picard and Keyboard Cat.
Its nice that Ives music is being conducted by another visionary composer/conductor, Leonard Bernstein;
who has done more to make classical music more popular than anyone else I know. He helped found Tanglewood, created the TV series,"Young People's Concerts".
I'm almost positive it was the New York Philhamonic that first performed Ives major symphonic works,like his 3rd & 4th
1:34 sounds like the opening of Pink Floyds "Shine on you Crazy Diamond" it's only the first note of the trumpet but for that second it sounds like it almost exactly :D
Actually... I suppose that it's the other way around.
A paragraph in my Western Art textbook led me to this piece. I find the following instrumental designations by Ives, very helpful towards an understanding of the piece:
Strings: "The Silence of the Druids - Who Know, See, and Hear Nothing"
Solo Trumpet: "The Perennial Question of Existence"
My name is michael, im a 14 year old bass player, and I think highly of ives and the way he has captured a deep sense of a somewhat sadness emotion... as if the song is asking "you" the possibly "why" question.....all in all very creative.
One of the greatest pieces of music ever written. That I've heard at least. It's just so... powerfully delicate... however paradoxical that is. I adore this piece.
My high school's chamber orchestra along with a trumpet, oboe, clarinet and another flute and I are playing this piece at the State Conference this year.
When I saw it performed by The Markham Symphony Orchestra, the Trumpet was in the balcony behind the audience, the flutes were on the stage, and the strings were behind the curtain, invisible to the audience, but still audible. Apparently, this was the way Ives had intended it to be performed. It truly was altogether a different but powerful experience, to not only hear this piece of music, but to witness it performed in such a manner!
If you say you hate this song, you are DEFINITELY not educated well in music! This song, with the theory behind it, is by far one of the most influential pieces to ever be played. The messege it conveys, as well as the sound that comes forth, is actually one of the most beautiful pieces I've ever heard in my life! I arranged this for trumpet, flute quartet, and organ, and performed it at my senior trumpet recital! Everyone LOVED it!!
i can't agree with that. some years ago i didn't like avantgarde music at all, and now after playing it for myself intesively i've come to love 20th century music. listening or making music is a form of education too imo (although trumpet4like probably meant academic education judging from his post)
still i know some guys who are really into music, but wouldn't like this music at all. but i agree in the sense that you can educate yourself into music, but i'd prefer to call it a developping taste, rather than education. when i was a teenager (now i'm 23 :P ) i didn't like led zeppelin, now it's one of my favourite bands haha
Good question, bozo response, all the time, yeah baby that's modernism.
reggggis 1 week ago
music is not only for beauty, life is not beautiful at all, if you dont find out the answer or even the question of "being"
MrMuzikalive 1 month ago
Sounds like the original Alien soundtrack, I wonder if this is where Jerry got his inspiration from
Edbrad 2 months ago 2
It's really enjoyable to appreciate his novel idea of music style intended on this piece. The intro part is very beautiful.
everydayholidayay 2 months ago
Love all of this (:
jamesaellis 2 months ago
Love the start of this (:
Anjuli9872 2 months ago
Thin Red Line
SpiroHrvoje1989 3 months ago 6
This reminds me of space. Being lost in space
verabradleygirl13 4 months ago
@verabradleygirl13
Er...... you have ever been lost in space as you claim? Somehow, I don't think so.
055697 1 month ago
@BumpersMomClaire *that there is no answer* -apologies for typo :)
PhillipLWilcher 4 months ago
@BumpersMomClaire I would think so. Ned Rorem once wrote me that the meaning of life was to seek life's meaning. Rather dualistic as well - yes? Perhaps the greater answer to the question of life is that is no answer. A constant unfolding whereby the universe and all its wonders, none the least of which is Music, creates itself and we are as much the observer as the thing observed.
PhillipLWilcher 4 months ago
This is incredible, why have I not heard of him next to the greats like Beethoven and Mozart etc?
stratocaster1986able 5 months ago
@stratocaster1986able Because people don't like to think anymore.
tmace1231 4 months ago
@stratocaster1986able Because he did not compose music to be a great composer, he simply did it out of the love of music. He wrote most of his stuff while working a full time job as an insurance person. Truly an unsung hero of American music.
Glock3260 2 months ago 2
15 people is unable to ask any question.
alexander1998100 5 months ago
Score & Parts for Ives: The Unanswered Question at SheetMusicX [dot[ com
hamasburi 5 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
thin red line.
NorCal4Life925breh 6 months ago
I guess the answer to the Unanswered Question lies in the mind of the unanswered? Or maybe only the people who have reached a stage in their lives where they can relate to this song and answer it? Either way, a beautiful masterpiece.
mammatusofmystery 6 months ago
Elmer Bernstein para-phrased this piece for "The Ten Commandments";the scene w/Charlton Heston & the burning bush..., listening to this great work always reminds me of it too.
xtremenortherner 6 months ago
"What are we here for?" -At least that's what I think the trumpet asks.
mjloomerlg 6 months ago
@mjloomerlg the trumpet could also ask "What is the question?" and every sequence or repitition answers with "what is the question".
But "what are we here for?" sounds somehow fits better.
GrauenausderTiefe 5 months ago
Maybe there is no question and its just the name of the composition O.o
MrTomBombadil24 7 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Thin Red Line
prodical666 7 months ago in playlist great songs
Makes you ponder.
ExtremeBogom 7 months ago
Grotesquely beautiful.
999manman 7 months ago
Kubrick should have used this theme for Odyssey 2001
txikilin 8 months ago
The woodwinds are the musical version of YouTube commenters.
ericsandmeyer 8 months ago 6
I don't "understand" the meaning or story behind this piece, nor do I want to. The mystery is part of what makes it so cool! I really love this
FCO0710 10 months ago
Charles Ives is easily America's greatest composer--but you'd never know it looking at American symphony programs. Even minor European composers like Lalo and von Suppe get more program time than our giant of a composer. Here is the Unanswered Question: Why aren't AMERICAN symphonies programing this musical genius more often?? His neglect in the 20's and 30's is somewhat understandable (if not forgiven)--but now?? C'mon people!!
windstorm1000 10 months ago
@windstorm1000 I feel like any serious work he did is overshadowed by his marching band arrangements, which i don't believe were ever meant to be serious. Novelty is a terrible thing.
khbgkh 10 months ago
HEY! What happened to the highest rated, helpful comments that explained the song? Oh, I see they have been replaced by comments from attention seeking wise cracks... what is this world coming to people!? Why don't we work together to get them back on top, eh?
offlineable 10 months ago 2
Please, everyone thumbs down the idiot who quoted Hitchhiker's guide up there...
KingCrimson776 11 months ago 4
@KingCrimson776 What's wrong with quoting Douglas Adams?
Londonbrig0 9 months ago
@Londonbrig0 The fact that that quote is played out and not clever or funny.
KingCrimson776 9 months ago
Shit, I'd get pissed, too, if some obnoxious, ignorant mother fucker kept asking me the same question.
samtherealone 1 year ago
Finally a response to Leibnitz's "?"..."why is there something rather than nothing at all"...whoops, a paraphrase but you get the idea....:) The "?" remains unanswered in this haunting piece by Ives. Perhaps Kant was right and we will never come close to finding the answer. Perhaps Lennon was right for his prescription for mankind.....just "Imagine"
crystalfrog45 1 year ago
I saw this piece performed at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia...the musicians were in the boxes to the right and left of the procenium...they "talked" to each other..it was the most spatial moment I ever witnessed in music to this day. Charles Ives was a genius.
56captvideo 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
it signifies the complete collapse of western ethics and moral order after the atrocity of the enlightenment and the rise of Godless materialism, the utter chaos resulting from the desecration of humanity. God's harmonious presence is in the background but the confused state of humanity's fall cannot articulate its condition or harmonize with the principles of creation and so degenerates into helpless confusion and surrenders to demented evil which betrays, decieves and only seeks to destroy.
iorixs 1 year ago
I get a chill down my spine whenever the woodwinds answer the question, and yet the trumpet continues to ask.
JouninAkisa 1 year ago
-"So . . . what is the 'Unanswered Question?'"
-"You just asked it, my friend."
EDGJZConglomerate 1 year ago 53
@EDGJZConglomerate
My mind = BLOWN!?!!
Orot13 9 months ago
@EDGJZConglomerate PARADOX!! YOU JUST DESTROYED AN ALIEN CIVILIZATION 15 BILLION OF LIGHT-YEARS AWAY!! HOW DO YOU FEEL!?!?
misterBasto 8 months ago
@EDGJZConglomerate, the unanswered question was actually this: what is the meaning to life?
CreamyKrau 8 months ago
@EDGJZConglomerate
You just answered it 0_o
piercedlip69 8 months ago
@EDGJZConglomerate - Surely the exchange should be: - "So . . . what is the 'Unanswered Question?'" - " "
JohnVelojet 5 months ago
11 people couldnt answer the question
RooFioRipleyA7x 1 year ago
@RooFioRipleyA7x lamesauce
pwkid 1 year ago
@RooFioRipleyA7x this needs to stop. It's not funny, and it's not clever. it's just annoying.
khbgkh 10 months ago
i did charles ives for a music report! im using this song for the background of my presentation. LOVE IT!!!
dogspawlikesbacon 1 year ago 2
the first time I ever heard Ives I thought "this is like life!" I still think this
flicks1and11 1 year ago 3
This is a thing of beauty.
markzemusic 1 year ago 2
wha does 42 mean.?
quickly answer pleasee.
lillawless 1 year ago
@lillawless hitchhikers guide to the galaxy: Deep thought gives this reply as an answer to the question of life, the universe and everything.
dajohnthomas69 1 year ago
@lillawless read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy !
ClownFreak007 1 year ago
"See them birds up there? They gonna eat you raw."
Bluehawk2008 1 year ago
@Bluehawk2008 did you get the criterion bluray ? :)
ff7reborn 1 year ago
This is awesome. It's true to nature, life, being alive.
petezilla 1 year ago
I find this piece haunting and exilharating, both relaxxing and disturbing, re-assuring and unsettling; a strange mix of classical and contempary styles. incredibly brief yet oddly satisfying. How can we know the answer when we don't know the question?
overner2001 1 year ago 27
@overner2001 This isn't classical at all. It's modernism
Brewcholo 3 months ago 4
you can get a version of this without the trumpet & woodwinds if you take a loaded pistol, put the barrel between your eyes, and pull the trigger. trust me, it works guys
cuddlesducks 1 year ago
I have the answer. It's the first bar of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, a declarative and unambiguous answer.
anonysquirrel 1 year ago 2
Just listen
mrjimmyos 1 year ago
Guys enjoy the music :].
Saying things like this wont help, because one its over the web, and two you would never say it out in the real world to someone's face. You're not cool. :[
MagixP 1 year ago
Please stop hating and enjoy this beautiful piece of music :)
Rumozamonien 1 year ago 2
I love the piece for the most part. The strings are spectacular. But is there anyway i can get a recording of just the strings without the flute or horn. The flute & horn almost ruin it for me, it's like it doesn't fit in. I understand that is the purpose but does anyone know of a recording with just the violin and string? Please help
buckdeer85 1 year ago
@buckdeer85 you might as well call it "The" without the flutes or trumpet.
rofklaw 1 year ago
@rofklaw But wait... I thought there was a trumpet asking the question? And the answer by (kind of) flutes?
turican500 1 year ago
@buckdeer85 errrr no cause they didn't have the technology
Christian2434 1 year ago
@buckdeer85 If you're looking for beautiful, completely-tonal music for strings, check out Vaughan Williams' "Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis" or "The Lark Ascending." You're not going to find any recording of this piece without the trumpet or woodwinds; they're by far the most important part of the piece - without them, you just have a slow progression of chords that go nowhere for a while and then just end.
BenMcCormack91 1 year ago 2
@buckdeer85 Clearly this means you prefer to be as the druids, silent and knowing nothing, rather than to ask the difficult questions! :-P
But I know what you mean. I first encountered this piece as a performer in a student orchestra, and I used to enjoy strings-only practices for the same reason: the string portion is so lulling and soothing and not so atonal. I doubt there is a strings-only recording of this piece, but there are other pieces with this sound you might prefer instead.
MurasakiNeko 1 year ago
Comment removed
petezilla 1 year ago
@buckdeer85 yuhonestly dont get or understand the song if yur sayin the fluts&trumpet dont fit.
the make the song "Th Unanswered Question"
therefore: the horn ask the question&the flutes resond but with no answer.
get it.?
im only 17&im smarter than yu.
lillawless 1 year ago
This piece is truly amazing, it captures all the aspects of life itself - its fear, loneliness, wonder and beauty
Dodgyisonfire 1 year ago
I remember that when I was in college at Notre Dame I'd listen to this at the audio library late in the afternoon and it would take me to a place that was vast in scale and just a bit scary. It didn't help that I was a freshman 1300 miles from home, studying Existentialism. I suppose I was either brave or really stupid.
rr7firefly 1 year ago
@rr7firefly lol! It's called Staring At The Sun dude and it's really really fucking brave!
hakanozelguitarist 1 year ago
When this song plays In The Thin Red line, it always brings me to tears.
primesniper14 1 year ago
Question is who let the brass section slip in the back door?
lordkorner 1 year ago
Am i correct in believing that the strings and for example brass, are in different keys or is it merely a matter of chromatic alterations? (My ear is really, really bad. I can just about do intervals)
IIThesaviour 1 year ago
No, this is a bitonal piece last time I checked.
Salamon2 1 year ago
This is one recording which gains very much by getting off of the noisy vinyl. I was just listening to it on an old lp.
JohnCougarMellowChim 1 year ago
This piece is both beautiful and haunting. Everytime I listen to it, it sends shivers up my spine and my scalp prickles. Charles Ives was truly a genius.
ChibbySu 1 year ago
When I listen to this piece it is imossible to me not to draw parallels with Shostakovich´s symphony 11.
Maybe I am imagining everything, probably, but it is challenging to think that they shared similar inner experience and that it is shown in the outcome.
chillisnake 2 years ago
i have always thought the same thing. btw, playing the first movement of symphony 11 and this at the same time, constantly adjusting the slider on each, is a great deal of fun
cuddlesducks 1 year ago
"There is no creation without destruction"
CaptainBluebear08 2 years ago
Hey! That's the first law of thermodynamics.
Chromometron 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
it signifies the complete collapse of western ethics and moral order after the atrocity of ww1 and ww2. the utter chaos resulting from the desecration of humanity. God's harmonious presence is in the background but the confused state of humanity's fall cannot articulate its condition or harmonize with the principles of creation and so degenerates into helpless confusion and surrenders to evil which betrays and only seeks to destroy.
iorixs 2 years ago
@iorixs stop trying to be smart, this song was written at the turn of the century, and hopefuly you know that the world wars happened after this
buttmonkey912 2 years ago 2
oh, it still sounds smart though?
iorixs 1 year ago
@iorixs no it does not. Only if you really have no idea who Charles Ives is and if you never heard of the term "world war" your comment would sound smart. But for all others it's just idiotic
paxpacis2 1 year ago
@paxpacis2 Existentialist philosophers often stress the importance of Angst as signifying the absolute lack of any objective ground for action, a move that is often reduced to a moral or an existential nihilism. A pervasive theme in the works of existentialist philosophy, however, is to persist through encounters with the absurd
iorixs 1 year ago
@iorixs Just WHAT are you talking about now? did you go nuts or something? You know what we talked about before, right?
paxpacis2 1 year ago
@paxpacis2 An existential crisis is a stage of development at which an individual questions the very foundations of their life: whether their life has any meaning, purpose or value.[1] This issue of the meaning and purpose of existence is the topic of the philosophical school of existentialism.
iorixs 1 year ago
@iorixs ok u are just retarded. You don't have to show us that anymore u can stop now
paxpacis2 1 year ago
@paxpacis2 Arrogance, pride, anger, conceit, harshness and ignorance--these qualities belong to those of demoniac nature, O son of Prtha.
iorixs 1 year ago
@paxpacis2 anomie arises more generally from a mismatch between personal or group standards and wider social standards, or from the lack of a social ethic, which produces moral deregulation and an absence of legitimate aspirations.
iorixs 1 year ago
Nice anaylsis. :) Very well said.
ChibbySu 1 year ago
@iorixs dude I have never seen such a stupid smartass
paxpacis2 1 year ago
@iorixs There are plenty of theories about what exactly this piece means.
I think the reason people got irritated with your comment was primarily that you sounded like you were stating facts. A piece that has no text telling you what it represents is not intended to be heard as having such explicit, complex meaning. Your ideas are interesting, but you sounded like you were saying that this is what Ives was thinking when he composed the piece. That might be going a bit too far, to be fair.
BenMcCormack91 1 year ago
@BenMcCormack91 Existentialism is a term applied to the work of a number of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences,[1][2] generally held that the focus of philosophical thought should be to deal with the conditions of existence of the individual person and their emotions, actions, responsibilities, and thoughts.
iorixs 1 year ago
@BenMcCormack91 An existential crisis is a stage of development at which an individual questions the very foundations of his or her life: whether their life has any meaning, purpose or value.[1] This issue of the meaning and purpose of existence is the topic of the philosophical school of existentialism.
iorixs 1 year ago
@iorixs Yes; I am completely aware of what existentialism is, and its significance in twentieth-century culture. My point was merely that your interpretation is too specific to be [provably] the logic Ives himself used to write the piece. There are things we can say are undeniably true about the piece, but to provide such an explicit textual meaning as you did is to step beyond the bounds of provable analysis, and into the realm of personal interpretation. That's all I am saying.
BenMcCormack91 1 year ago
Beautiful. Heartbreaking. What is the question to be answered?
ridiai99 2 years ago 2
some existential question about the meaning of life i guess
iorixs 2 years ago
I'm not sure what the question is. It does sound like the kind of questions I come up with though. Same goes for the answers.
Whatever it means, they can play this at my funeral I reckon. It seems to sum up everything I feel about life.
SPLIMLETLET 2 years ago 2
Put simply, I believe Ives himself claimed this to be the question: What is the future of music? Considering that there is a crises in musical grammar and syntax: the recent problem of tonality vs atonality etc.. Notice the calm strings vs. unstable brass and winds that ask the question. They eventually are made fun of because the question is indeed (so far) unanswerable. The crises can then be extended to other arts and possibly philosophy: ethics and morality.
OpusOneTwoFive 2 years ago
Ives describes it as "the perenial question of existence." Take a look in the score, there's a large explanation in the introduction. I'm pretty sure Ives was trying to express deeper things than issues in musical language, no to say that he wasn't very concerned about the things you mention. I think he was using this crisis in music to represent the crisis of humanity.
rgxb2807 1 year ago
The whole point of this piece is that it's question with no answers and the inharmonic moments are people trying to answer it. The strings are people asking for the meaning of life and the brass and winds are giving what they think is the answer.
Kevertenor 2 years ago
@Kevertenor It's a type of music.
Cegrell 2 years ago
@Kevertenor i always thought the trumpet peice was asking the question and the rest is the world going by and not answering
matto902 2 years ago
The answer provided encourages insanity. Perhaps we should stop asking it.
elscorchoamigo 2 years ago
Maybe the wrong question is being asked?
I like your comment.
SPLIMLETLET 2 years ago
Comment removed
elscorchoamigo 2 years ago
so, like, postmodern
ultraviolenceplus 2 years ago
psycedelic. I like;)
kakemats 2 years ago
The unanswered question is "Who orchestrated the strings, brass and woodwind in completely different keys?!?!?". The answer is no-one knows. Nobody fessed up :P
decky1990 2 years ago 4
"diatonic collection," not key
:)
crapatitus 2 years ago
The question is: What's Up?
This question is impossible to answer
Danman917 2 years ago
the sky
AMcD175 2 years ago
beautiful tension
johaeng1 2 years ago
very patient
pizzaROX2 2 years ago
Perhaps the state of being both alive and mortal is the unanswered question.
rayofpith 2 years ago
how is that in any way a question?
TheRayner117 2 years ago 3
The answer is ......
69budha 2 years ago
The answer is 42.
nrwseparatist 2 years ago 65
And the question is? So many wasted years...
ArkanRow 2 years ago 2
Comment removed
skellez83 2 years ago
this man is correct
thehamlog 2 years ago
a Benchmade 42
pwnyoubitch 2 years ago
i wish
pdasch0 2 years ago
@ Nrwseparatist you know that? :$
HomeAlone4life 1 year ago
@nrwseparatist: Happy towel day! :)
chlopieczgitara 1 year ago
@nrwseparatist Found in the Marx Brothers film Horse Feathers on the door of the speakeasy
gallycat99 1 year ago
@nrwseparatist no
Tennisers 1 year ago
@nrwseparatist lmao ;)
8GRUM8 1 year ago
Comment removed
BeebeCh1972 2 years ago
The answer is yes.
johnnowa1953 2 years ago 3
lol
SingHouse 2 years ago
hey i want to download this
starlust89 2 years ago
The NY Philharmonic, with Bernstein, performed the 2nd Symphony (which won the Pulitzer) in the early 50's. Ives supposedly heard the performance on the radio and either loved it or hated it, as Lenny had the orchestra hold the last chord longer than Ives intended (so the story goes) just to give the audience more time to hear that wonderful chord.
Stokowski premiered the 4th (with two assistant conductors) in 1965. There's a 32 second clip on Youtube.
This spring the BSO did the 4th...wow!
Mjant45 2 years ago 3
This has been flagged as spam show
the question i answered : what is in this video and what is it about?
is an unaswered question
berlin45ers 2 years ago
it's about superimposing different, conflicting keys in the same piece of music, something this composer was very fond of
SingHouse 2 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Hello everybody! My name is sheat hiden and I play all of instruments known to the universe. I just want to say that Ives was a great inspiration in my life. Probably the great creature to have ever lived,right in front of Jean-Luc Picard and Keyboard Cat.
millenniumguy1885 2 years ago
Its nice that Ives music is being conducted by another visionary composer/conductor, Leonard Bernstein;
who has done more to make classical music more popular than anyone else I know. He helped found Tanglewood, created the TV series,"Young People's Concerts".
I'm almost positive it was the New York Philhamonic that first performed Ives major symphonic works,like his 3rd & 4th
symphonies.
xtremenortherner 2 years ago
1:34 sounds like the opening of Pink Floyds "Shine on you Crazy Diamond" it's only the first note of the trumpet but for that second it sounds like it almost exactly :D
Actually... I suppose that it's the other way around.
mikemaccafan 2 years ago
A paragraph in my Western Art textbook led me to this piece. I find the following instrumental designations by Ives, very helpful towards an understanding of the piece:
Strings: "The Silence of the Druids - Who Know, See, and Hear Nothing"
Solo Trumpet: "The Perennial Question of Existence"
Woodwinds: "The Fighting Answerers"
northernlight217 2 years ago 23
Nice nice nice... Ives is the man.
dahwang12 2 years ago 6
My name is michael, im a 14 year old bass player, and I think highly of ives and the way he has captured a deep sense of a somewhat sadness emotion... as if the song is asking "you" the possibly "why" question.....all in all very creative.
tuki360 2 years ago 4
i m from argentina, i m a musician, and ives was a geniussss!!!!
pocotrolo 2 years ago 2
lindo tu nick...:XD
LordDavid6 2 years ago
THERE ARE NO ANSWERS!
billyguns2 2 years ago 4
"there is no bathroom!!!!!" - detective john kimble
rphappyslap 2 years ago 3
This has been flagged as spam show
there is no penis!!!! XD
LordDavid6 2 years ago
@rphappyslap Good work. :)
ludwigvan17 2 years ago
There is no Keyser Söze!
DedDummy 2 years ago
No. Read between the lines. Or check some music history books.
topfmeister 2 years ago
wow, meditative
SnakeChimera 3 years ago
wow... how delicate and strangely removed... i have no words for this
SingHouse 3 years ago 4
The answer is love.
tubeofgod 3 years ago
Hans Zimmer ripped off this music for
The Thin Red Line.
Jitpring 3 years ago 2
This music is very popular among young composers. This is the 'base' of the soundtrack of the Lola rennt (Run Lola Run) movie.
Unbihexium 3 years ago
Charles Ives is credited in the film...
flipfloptaste 3 years ago 2
One of the greatest pieces of music ever written. That I've heard at least. It's just so... powerfully delicate... however paradoxical that is. I adore this piece.
ruckbogers 3 years ago 2
My high school's chamber orchestra along with a trumpet, oboe, clarinet and another flute and I are playing this piece at the State Conference this year.
I'm incredibly excited. :] Absolutely beautiful.
thexspoonxfork 3 years ago
this is what my teacher said from my music class:
1 the trumpet asks the questionm
2 the flutes respond but don't really answer
3. the strings are like wallflowers
it has to do with his fathers death and how they use to play trumpets at the pond together
SilverBuddafly 3 years ago 3
Thank you
Sedanstotina 3 years ago 2
When I saw it performed by The Markham Symphony Orchestra, the Trumpet was in the balcony behind the audience, the flutes were on the stage, and the strings were behind the curtain, invisible to the audience, but still audible. Apparently, this was the way Ives had intended it to be performed. It truly was altogether a different but powerful experience, to not only hear this piece of music, but to witness it performed in such a manner!
Hamgammy 3 years ago 9
:O lucky u
cafesoluble 3 years ago
I think I know the right answer! Ask me!
CarolaEnde 3 years ago
For me its the best Ives wrote.
Sedanstotina 3 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
if i could i would kill the fu*** flute and trompet
JukkaBcK 3 years ago
this is so hardcore, love it.
cafesoluble 3 years ago
If you say you hate this song, you are DEFINITELY not educated well in music! This song, with the theory behind it, is by far one of the most influential pieces to ever be played. The messege it conveys, as well as the sound that comes forth, is actually one of the most beautiful pieces I've ever heard in my life! I arranged this for trumpet, flute quartet, and organ, and performed it at my senior trumpet recital! Everyone LOVED it!!
trumpet4life 3 years ago
i don't see what education got to do with taste for music... i like it anyway, with or without the theoretical background
doyoublush 3 years ago
i can't agree with that. some years ago i didn't like avantgarde music at all, and now after playing it for myself intesively i've come to love 20th century music. listening or making music is a form of education too imo (although trumpet4like probably meant academic education judging from his post)
conantwo 3 years ago
still i know some guys who are really into music, but wouldn't like this music at all. but i agree in the sense that you can educate yourself into music, but i'd prefer to call it a developping taste, rather than education. when i was a teenager (now i'm 23 :P ) i didn't like led zeppelin, now it's one of my favourite bands haha
doyoublush 3 years ago
I have literally spend decades trying to figure out Boulez's The Hammer without a Master. I'm 48 and I think I might be there soon.
When I was a kid, I hated Led Zeppelin. Still do, of course.
ttlms 2 years ago
@ttlms You can like Ives all you want but why hate the Zep? Just....why?
ludwigvan17 2 years ago