Ives For Me

Growing up in Connecticut was a state rich in culture. I did not know that till I was a teenager. I went cross country when I was 13 for 8 weeks and soaked in as much as I could as fast as I could. It was not until I was 15 that my cross country experience showed me how important my state is in the United States. I am sure every state brags about their importance too. I am not going to make fun of this.

I mean I was in Missouri to visit family. I saw the importance of the Gateway Arch and most of all the Thomas Hart Benton painting at the train station in a small town in Missouri. I went to the Four Corners of the United States. I went to through the Mojave Desert when the tempature was only 116 Degrees . I even saw, and followed the Mississippi River to some areas such as Memphis and Minneapolis and St. Paul. Those 8 weeks taught me a lot about our country.


Now it was not until I was at my community college that I learned about Charles Ives. Charles Ives was a person from Connecticut who was famous because of his music. His Symphony #3 and #2 are some of the most important in the classical repertoire. I found out later when I was in College up North that Symphony #3 is the one that could my Music History Professor cry. It was the piece he wanted us to hear was "The Unanswered Question." I mean I loved the piece before we studied it in that Music class. I was the one who suggested we do a little unit on Ives because of the emotions we felt about Ives.

I have close friends who grew up in the Ives area. The area we are talking about is Danbury Connecticut is a city that is close to the New York boarder. They surprisingly were not taught about Ives in the classroom like I thought they would. Did the History classes never discuss the history of Connecticut?

Ives sold insurance on the side to supplement his income. With that money he had time to devote himself to his pursuits like making this wonderful music. The wonderful music payed off as he won the Pulitzer Prize in 1947. Music that was more recognized after his death. It was not till the early 1970's, the century of his birth there was a sort of Ives mania in the music culture.

What "The Unanswered Question" does for me is the expression of unsureness in the world and how we are also feeling of that unsureness. The piece is hard to explain, but if you listen to it, it will provoke some response. The piece is mentioned in all the good musicology books as a piece to listen to. It is his most talked about piece. His symphony's are amazing which incorporates just about everything listened to and most of all heard in his time growing up in Connecticut.



If you can read notes the sheet music above will help you give you a clue on what he is doing. I thought of this traveling around the state yesterday and how my state has so much rich history. It has been here since day one of these United States and is one of the original 13 colonies. That rich history Ives knew and added that to all his pieces.

Below is a video of "The Unanswered Question" listen for yourself and tell me what you think. It's richness in feel will evoke a response. To quote Charles Ives "Beauty In Music is too often confused with something that lets the ears lie back in the easy chair"."