Questions and Answers: From America to the New World

About the Work

“The Unanswered Question,” composed around 1908, is one of the most remarkable works in the orchestral repertoire: a six-minute meditation on existence that anticipates developments in music that would not become widespread for another half century.

In his working papers Ives subtitled it “a Cosmic Landscape.” The piece unfolds as a kind of philosophical drama in three layers. Strings, ideally placed offstage, play a series of slow, ethereal chords in G major throughout the work, representing what Ives called “The Silence of the Druids”: the timeless, impassive background of existence. Against this backdrop, a solo trumpet poses “The Perennial Question of Existence,” a five-note phrase that recurs seven times, always the same, always unanswered.

In response to the trumpet’s question, a quartet of flutes (the “Fighting Answerers”) attempts to provide an answer. At first, their responses are tentative and tonal. But with each attempt, they grow more agitated, more dissonant, more chaotic, until they finally give up in frustration. The trumpet poses its question one last time. The strings continue their serene progression, indifferent. The question remains unanswered.

Listen for: The three independent layers of sound, each in its own tempo. Notice how the flutes’ responses become increasingly frantic and dissonant with each attempt, while the trumpet’s question and the strings’ “silence” remain unchanged.

About the Work

The First Violin Concerto was composed during one of the darkest periods of Shostakovich’s life. He began it in 1947 with the great violinist David Oistrakh in mind as the dedicatee.

But in February 1948, while he was still at work on it, cultural commissar Andrei Zhdanov launched a brutal attack on “formalist” composers, naming Shostakovich, Prokofiev, and others as enemies of the Soviet people. Shostakovich lost his teaching position, and much of his music disappeared from concert programmes.

The finished concerto remained in a drawer for seven years, unpublished and unperformed. Only after Stalin’s death in 1953 and the subsequent “thaw” was the premiere finally possible. On October 29, 1955, Oistrakh performed it with the Leningrad Philharmonic under Yevgeny Mravinsky to overwhelming acclaim.

The concerto is cast in four movements, unusual for the form:

I. Nocturne (Moderato): A brooding, introspective opening in which Oistrakh heard “a suppression of feelings.” The violin’s long-breathed melody unfolds over dark orchestral colors.

II. Scherzo (Allegro): A sardonic, almost grotesque movement filled with bitter humor. Here Shostakovich works in his famous musical signature, the DSCH motif (D-E♭-C-B in German notation).

III. Passacaglia (Andante): The emotional heart of the concerto, a massive set of variations over a repeated bass line. The movement builds to a shattering climax before subsiding into an extended cadenza that serves as a transition to the finale.

IV. Burlesque (Allegro con brio): A fierce, virtuosic finale that bursts in straight after the cadenza.

Listen for: The darkness of the opening Nocturne, which sets the tone for this deeply personal work. In the Scherzo, listen for the DSCH motif (the notes spelling out Shostakovich’s initials in German). The Passacaglia’s grinding bass line and the extended cadenza that follows are among the most demanding passages in the violin repertoire. The finale’s relentless energy drives to a conclusion that is triumphant yet somehow hollow, a characteristic Shostakovich ambiguity.

About the Work

The “New World” Symphony is one of the most popular works in the entire orchestral repertoire. Dvorak began composing it in late 1892, shortly after arriving in New York, and completed it in May 1893. The premiere, on December 16, 1893, at Carnegie Hall under Anton Seidl, was a sensation; the audience erupted in applause after each movement.

The symphony’s subtitle, “From the New World,” has inspired endless debate about its musical sources. Did Dvorak use actual African American spirituals or Native American melodies? The composer himself was clear: “I have not actually used any of the melodies. I have simply written original themes embodying the peculiarities of the Indian music.” He had studied these traditions closely, and the African American student Harry Burleigh sang spirituals to him.

Yet the symphony is equally Bohemian. Homesickness pervades the work, especially the famous slow movement, whose cor anglais melody William Arms Fisher later set to words as “Goin’ Home.” The symphony synthesizes Old World and New, nostalgia and discovery.

I. Adagio, Allegro molto: A slow introduction builds tension before the explosive main theme, with its syncopated rhythms suggesting African American influence. A lyrical second theme provides contrast.

II. Largo: The most famous movement, featuring the haunting cor anglais melody that has become synonymous with American longing. Like the scherzo, it is often linked to Longfellow’s “The Song of Hiawatha.”

III. Scherzo (Molto vivace): Dvorak wrote that this movement was “suggested by the scene at the feast in Hiawatha where the Indians dance.” Its rhythmic energy is irresistible, with a gentler trio section offering respite.

IV. Allegro con fuoco: A magnificent finale that recalls themes from all the previous movements. The symphony builds to a triumphant yet bittersweet conclusion.

Listen for: The syncopated rhythms of the first movement’s main theme, which suggest the influence of spirituals. In the Largo, the unforgettable cor anglais solo: try to hear it fresh, despite its familiarity. The scherzo’s “Indian” rhythms and the finale’s integration of themes from all four movements make for a deeply satisfying conclusion. Astronaut Neil Armstrong carried a recording of this symphony to the Moon in 1969.