Ives: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4, The Unanswered Question & Central Park in the Dark

Featuring

Ludovic Morlot
David Gordon
Seattle Symphony
Seattle Symphony Chorale
Charles Ives

Did you know?

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Composition History

Ives's Symphony No. 4, his largest and most ambitious work, was not premiered until 1965, more than a decade after his death.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Charles Ives, the composer, embraced the known musical universe while simultaneously leaping toward musical worlds not yet glimpsed by others, creating a visionary celebration of diversity.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Ives intended Symphony No. 4 to represent 'the searching questions of What? and Why? which the spirit of man asks of life,' with the movements exploring diverse answers.

Recording & Production

The recording of Symphony No. 4 was captured live in concert on January 29 and 31, 2015, at Benaroya Hall in Seattle, Washington.

Compositional Technique

In Ives's The Unanswered Question, the strings represent 'the silences of the Druids,' the trumpet sounds 'the perennial question of existence,' and the wind quartet attempts to answer it.

Compositional Technique

Symphony No. 4 requires two pianos, an organ, and a mixed chorus, and its rhythmic complexity sometimes necessitates two or three conductors to keep the orchestra together.

Compositional Technique

In Central Park in the Dark, the strings depict 'the sounds of nature' or 'silent darkness,' while the winds, brass, and percussion portray human activities like vehicles and street bands.